


is this the dream?

by meeveemo



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: 2020 L'Manberg Election on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), Dream Team SMP Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Dream Team SMP Spoilers, L'Manberg War of Independence on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), Manberg Festival on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), Minecraft, Post-Manberg Festival on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), Pre-Manberg-Pogtopia War on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:21:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 29,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29228394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meeveemo/pseuds/meeveemo
Summary: tommy has been on the run for what seemed to be forever now, fleeing his old village, which had been burnt to the ground. his parents, friends, family, all killed by mad-men, slaughtered in front of his very eyes.the only things he had were his father's sword and his mother's music discs.he runs into a man named dream, who takes him in and introduces him to the kingdom of bevurian. but when dream kicks him out and takes his mother's music discs, all hell will break loose:revolutions, wars, the battle of the discs, the election of l'manberg, the fall of a king, along with bevurian.
Kudos: 7





	1. the arrival

the sun shone brightly down on tommy, burning the skin on his arms as he walked. it seemed to be summer, but at this point, tommy had no idea where he was or when it was. he has been traveling for so long now, didn't know what to think of anything. his brain felt like it didn't work anymore; only filled with nonsense. 

he had been traveling through the mountains for a few days now, almost non-stop. nothing but rocks in sight. but in the distance, he could see the entrance to a large dark forest, stretching out where the mountains and trees touched, dividing the two landscapes with a significant line. 

his eyes go wide and his hands start to sweat more as he picked up the pace towards it. his bag sitting steadily slung over his right shoulder, with what little belongings he had inside. all he needed were a few important things - his father's sword, a few pairs of clothes to change into, a map, water bottle, and his two music discs from when he were a child. 

his mother had given him the discs when he were little. she would play them every night so he could go to bed, it was the only way he would be able to sleep. the sound of the comforting music was like nostalgia to him, from a time before war, before chaos, before everything in his life had changed. 

the village he grew up in was now gone, sent up in flames a few months prior. attacked by a man he knew almost nothing about, all he knew is that he hated him, hated everything about him. he tried to stop the chaos, he wanted to stop it; but his father made him leave. he told him to run and never come back. so he did, he grabbed his few things and fled. 

his mother had died in the fires, and he assumed his father had died fighting the men who killed her. he could still hear the ear piercing screams of the villagers, fighting for their lives, being burnt, sliced open by the men who attacked. 

he ran; and he's been on the run ever since. 

he assumed it's been about 4 months now since they attacked, since he became an orphan. since his entire family passed, all of his friends, all of the people in his small village, the place he grew up in. 

tommy didn't know what he was looking for when he decided to run. all he knew is that he wanted a better opportunity for himself. he wanted to grow up in a world where peace, and kindness won. only being 16 years old meant he couldn't do much - but he would try. he would try to make the world he would soon live in a better place. 

he finally arrived at the edge of the forrest, letting the cool shadows from the trees block the hot sun from above as he sat himself down. his body instantly started to cool with the shade from the tall, spruce trees. it looked peaceful in a way - untouched by man. he enjoyed it here, he wanted to stay here forever. not a care in the world, no responsibilities. 

that's when he hears a twig snap from deeper inside the forest. 

he shot his head up from the ground, sweat still dripping from his red face. 

"who's there?" he yelled out gritting his teeth, taking his sword out from his bag and standing on unsteady feet. 

he stood there for what seemed to be a few minutes, panting, out of breath. he felt weak. he hadn't eaten a proper meal in what seemed to be forever; there weren't many animals to hunt in the mountains. 

"who's there?" tommy shouts again, steadying his feet on the ground. that's when a man comes out from the trees, wearing a green cloak that draped just over his shoulders, and his face covered by a mask. he had an axe stored at his side, and what looked to be a crossbow and meat pouch layed on his back. he assumed he was out here hunting, but he looked like a strange lad - stood just as tall as tommy, but he had significantly more muscle, he could easily take him out. but other then that, he was a mystery. 

"hello." he says, crossing his arms over his chest, standing his ground in front of tommy. 

"who are you?" tommy asks warily, pointing his sword towards him, making sure he takes the hint to stay away. 

"the name's dream," the man responds.

"dream?" he thought, what a strange name. 

"yes. may i ask who you are?"

he hesitates for a moment, gripping his sweaty hands harder on the sword. "tommy." he responds quietly. 

"hi tommy," he says through what seems like a smile, but the boy couldn't tell because of the cover over his face. "where are you headed?" 

"i- i don't really know. i'm just- headed somewhere. i guess." tommy responded scared, in full honesty. 

"well, this is the forest outside of bevurian." 

"bevurian?" he asks confused. tommy had never heard of the place in his whole life, he figured he really must have traveled far in the time he'd been running. 

"bevurian, yes. run by king eret. you've never heard of it?" he asks, and tommy shakes his head no. "where are you from?" 

"the town of loir, inside the kingdom of crane." he responds, not feeling the need to lie to this man and didn't really see a point. figuring maybe he could help him if he only spoke the truth. 

"i've never heard of it. must be far," he responds, "you a traveler?" he asks, pointing his eyes down towards his bag, still propped up against the tree next to his feet, and the smaller boy nods his head up and down, making sure to keep his hands placed around the sword tightly.

"i'm not gonna hurt you, you can put the sword down," he responds. 

"in my defense, i still have no idea who you are." tommy says, slowly putting the sword down and back towards his side, still keeping a tight grip on it. "why do you have a face mask?"

he stands there for a moment, taking in my words in curiosity. then he brings his hands up to his mask, pulling it off his face and holds it to his side. his face was now exposed, and tommy could see the man for what he really was now. 

a deep scar was placed across his face, falling from his left eye all the way across the the right of his chin. his dirty blonde hair - almost brown, was placed in a small bun at the back of his head, with small strands of hair framing his face in the front. he had full eyebrows, bright green eyes, and a somewhat tan complexion. he stood just as tall as tommy, even though he could tell he had a good few years of age on him. but, now that he could see him fully, tommy really thought he was as good of a dead now. the man was naturally intimidating, and he had a terrifying aura that surrounded him. 

"what happened to your face?" tommy asks scared, bringing his hand up and running his finger down diagonally, replicating where the other man's scar ran. 

"got in a fight with an old friend of mine," he says hesitantly, "if you couldn't tell - we're not friends anymore." he says laughing slightly, which results in a small chuckle out of tommy, being the first time he's laughed even a little bit in a long time. 

"if you want, you can come back with me to my house, you look pretty beaten up," he says back to the boy, which resulted in tommy looking up at him with wide eyes and a growing stomach. 

"that would be great, thanks." he responds smiling to the man, and dream turns the other way, heading farther into the woods. tommy grabs his bag from the ground and slings it over his shoulder, continuing to grip the sword in his right hand. following the intimidating man he had just met. 

the two boys walked through the forest, with tommy following slightly behind him the whole time. he found it amazing he knew how to navigate himself throughout this entire place with ease. along the way they found many small campsites, with burnt out fires - you could tell many people had passed through here before. he wondered if any people had been in the same position he was in now. 

they exited the woods and went onto a small path with small, low to the ground walls on each side; it led through an orchard of all different kinds of trees. in the distance he could see a purple portal mounted up against some small rocks. he had heard of portals before, but in his old village none of them had anything of the sort. he had heard they were gateways to hell itself, and his village was poor, they had no room for things like that there. 

the orchard subsided, and he was met with a large pond, with a small house placed in the middle of it. a dock leading to what seemed to be the front doors of the building. dream started to walk down the stairs and to the dock; this must have been his house the two had arrived at. 

the dock creaked and wobbled under tommy's feet as he stepped. the house wasn't the best quality - just some wood all put together, and he assumed that dream had made it himself. but for seemingly having done it himself, it seemed to look pretty good. 

dream opens the front door, and they're met with the smell of cooked food that fills the air. it makes tommy's mouth water and stomach grumble in pain. 

"you hungry?" dream asks, and tommy nods his head eagerly. he walks into the kitchen and takes the meat off of the fired stove, "george? you home?" he asks, yelling through the house. 

the sound of footsteps can be heard squeaking from upstairs, and in a matter of seconds we're greeted with a smaller petite man. 

"who's this?" the new man asks, almost in a scared tone. he had short dark hair and brown eyes. he didn't have as much muscle as dream but he definitely had a little bit. 

"this is tommy," he responds, "i met him just now hunting." 

"hi." tommy says looking towards him with a small smile, and george smiles back hesitantly, still scared with the stranger dream brought in their house. 

dream takes out two plates and hands the boy one with some cooked meat on it. with a watering mouth he sat down and dug into the food. "are the others still out?" he asks to his friend, sitting down next to tommy with his food. 

"they finished securing the south forest about 30 minutes ago," he says, "did you catch anything?" looking towards the small bag dream once had layed across his back in the forest, now sitting near the front door. 

"only a few rabbits," he says, "did they say anything about the south?" 

"no, but rumor has it king eret is angry. supposedly he is shutting the outer borders to bevurian soon." 

"why?" dream asks. 

"don't know. they're getting the other travelers in and then they're closing it." he says, "callahan overheard something about a tyrant on their way."

"well, that's not good. maybe callahan misheard, he's only at a chef position in that castle y'know." dream replies, taking another bite of his food. 

"i don't think he did, dream." the man says, "for all we know the tyrant is already here." 

"in that case, we better be careful." he says, "where are the others?"

"outside near the farm," the dark haired man responds. dream then gets up from his seat and heads out to the small farm outside of the house. once he was out there, the others came into view. the people consisted of sapnap, callahan, ponk, punz and alyssa. 

sapnap stood around 5 foot 10 inches, with brown hair and a small scruff on his chin. he always wore that stupid white headband around his head; he's been wearing it since he was a child, but he was definitely the strongest out of everyone in the gang. he could take out anyone if he wanted to, and he was one scary guy if you got on his bad side. 

callahan was a simple, tall kid, with dark brown hair and pale skin, that made the freckles all over his face stand out. he had dark brown eyes, that almost looked black. he was also mute, meaning he couldn't talk. in the kingdom of bevurian they had many servants that worked in the castle for king eret and his family - callahan was one of them. his parents forced him to commit a crime when he was young, and because of it, the kingdom cut off his tongue and forced him to be a servant in the castle. if he didn't comply, he would be faced with death. it was a common thing that happened in the kingdom, and no one really thought much of it. 

ponk was a shorter boy, who always wore a red face mask to cover up the burns on his face he got in a house fire when he was young. punz was a little taller than him, a blonde haired man with a small beard, similar to sapnap's body build, he could probably beat up just about anyone if he wanted to. the two of them had known each other since they were little and they were pretty much inseparable. 

alyssa was callahan's girlfriend, a short blonde girl who always wore a face mask around her nose. she was as pure and bright as the sun. alyssa and dream have known each other since they were children, they grew up as neighbors in the outskirts of town. dream had never seen her happier then when she was with callahan, and they seemed to be a perfect fit. 

dream and george lived in the community house together that they built. sapnap lived down the street, while punz and ponk lived a few blocks away in a larger house. while callahan and alyssa lived together in a neighboring house to dream and george's that they all helped make. they still wondered why they all used the community house as their hangout spot, but they didn't say anything about it. something about it just seemed homey, almost nostalgic in a way; maybe it was the fact it was homemade by all of them and almost distant from society. 

they all agreed no matter what they would always stick together - even if they had their own problems. 

"dream!" sapnap yells when he sees him walking their way, "did george tell you the news?"

"yeah, he did," he responds, "we have to be careful from now on, okay?" callahan nods his head and heads back towards the house, with alyssa following right behind him. 

"i saw a boy walk into the house with you, who was that?" sapnap asks him, and dreams head cocks back towards the house, looking through the window to see the boy digging in to more food george must have given him. 

"i found him in the woods. he seemed to have traveled really far so i decided to bring him to get some food." he shrugs. 

"and you have no idea who he is?" sapnap asks worried, "what is he's the tyrant?" 

dream chuckles at the thought of the fragile boy being a tyrant to the nation they lived in, "i seriously doubt it sap."

sapnap looks back towards the house and towards the blonde haired boy, "i don't know man, he seems kind of sketchy." 

"you think that about almost everyone." dream laughs, which causes sapnap to grin. 

"but seriously, we need to be more careful about that kind of stuff. we can't just bring strangers home with us." 

"i know i know," dream says, bringing his hands up in defense, "i just felt bad. he seems pretty beaten up."

"just this once i'm letting this slide." he says back, and the talked man nods in response, heading back inside.


	2. sent in flames

tommy woke up to coldness and a sore back. he sat up from the floor to stretch, dream was allowing him to stay with him and george in the community house until he got back on his feet. the boy appreciated his kindness, but some of dream's friends still seemed a little hesitant about the whole situation. 

it was tommy's third day being there, and he woke up to the smell of food being cooked in the kitchen. he slowly got up from his spot on the floor and walked over to sit at the kitchen table. george was already awake, cooking the rabbit dream brought home a few days ago. he was thankful for all of them, everything they were giving him - especially the food.

sapnap then entered the front door, with a mad expression on his face. george was taken by surprise when he slammed the door behind him, shaking the floor of the house. 

"what's wrong with you?" george asked angrily. 

"alyssa and ponk is what's wrong with me, they're both just idiots." he responds, hands clenching at his sides, looking like he was about to punch something if he got the chance. 

"why? what did they do this time?" george asks, returning his gaze to the cooked food on the stove. 

"they literally stole all of my stuff!" he yells, slamming his hands down at the table, making tommy's plate and silverware rattle against it. 

"but what did you do to them first?" george raises his eyebrow. sapnap gets flustered and looks away, grumbling gibberish under his breath. "sapnap?"

"i may have killed alyssa's dog..." he says quietly, "but not on purpose! it was an accident!" 

"sapnap!" george and tommy exclaim at the same time. 

"i said it was an accident!" he yells back flustered. "i told her i was sorry!" george places a hand on his face, shaking his head from side to side. 

"and did you do anything else after that?"

"i may have... stolen their stuff and took it for myself." he mumbles. 

"oh my god, sapnap." george responds angrily. 

"what?! i'm fighting fire with fire here." he says defensively, bringing his hands up from the table. 

"you're actually an idiot." george says, and this results in sapnap going over and punching his arm. "go return their stuff!" george exclaims. 

"fine!" sapnap exclaims, he looks over at tommy, "will you please come with me?" 

"i suppose so." tommy says shrugging, and sapnap grabs his shoulder and leads him to the door, with tommy scrambling to stuff as much food in his mouth as he walked away. tommy grabs his sword and follows closely behind sapnap, heading back to his house to return their items. 

they walk down the dirt path towards the house. they all lived in the outskirts of the kingdom, away from all of the human activity, closer to the forest. everything out here was pretty much manmade, including all of the paths, which were just made from them all constantly walking there, killing the grass under their feet. although, sapnap's house was definitely closer to the middle of the kingdom, not as far as the community house. 

the sight of a smaller boy running towards them catches their attention, he's flailing his arms and yelling for help. sapnap looks at tommy worried and tommy gives him a scared glare. 

"help!" the boy yells, he was shorter then the two boys standing side by side on the path. he had light brown hair and blue eyes, with a ripped up green shirt thrown across his chest. 

"what's wrong?" sapnap asks the frazzled boy. 

"these two people stole my flint and steel, and they lit someone's house on fire! i don't know what to do!" the small boy exclaims, and sapnap's eyes go wide. 

he pushes past the small boy, almost throwing him to the ground; tommy runs right behind him and the small boy stands their in shock before starting after the two. 

the sight is clear as day now, the view from sapnap's spot on the ground was heart-wrenching. his home lit on fire before his very eyes. he sinks to the ground, tears welling up in his eyes as his mouth is open agape. tommy comes up from behind him and puts a reassuring hand on his shoulder to try and comfort him. 

he looks up to see ponk and alyssa standing before the fire, the flint and steel in their hands. tommy runs up to the two of them, leaving sapnap on the pathway, also seeing the smaller boy from earlier running up towards them. 

"what have you done?" tommy asks with anger in his voice. 

"we- we didn't want to burn down the whole thing!" alyssa yells at him, "only to get the joke across- we- we didn't mean to!" she exclaims with tears in her eyes, dropping the flint and steel on the ground. 

sapnap's presence appears from behind him, and he points his sword towards ponk and alyssa, tommy following in suite. sapnap's eyes were dead-cold, it almost looked as if no sign of life could be seen in them what-so-ever. 

ponk looks over at alyssa, who was shaking in fear, and in one swift motion he grabs alyssa's hand and starts running. 

sapnap starts off in a run after them, while ponk and alyssa turn the corner. tommy follows after them, leaving the boy from earlier standing there in shock, looking at the burning house before him. 

alyssa and ponk start sprinting back towards the community house to get help, they had no idea how sapnap was going to react when he finally caught up to them; so they kept running like their life depended on it. tommy ran closely behind a sprinting sapnap who was chasing after them like a predator chasing prey. both of their swords swung back and forth in their hands as they ran. 

sapnap was close enough to hear alyssa's crying as they kept running, ponk keeping his hand gripped tightly around alyssa's wrist, dragging her along as she stumbled over her own feet. 

the community house was in sight now, and sapnap knew how the rules were - no fighting inside of the house property or directly outside of it. so, sapnap stopped in his tracks and watched as ponk and alyssa ran into the house, shutting the door directly behind them. 

he stood there in shock, tears welling in his eyes. tommy appeared behind him. they both stood at the standing house in shock, allowing sapnap to catch his breathe. but as soon as he did, he turned around and marched the other way. he had a right to be angry - the house he lived in was now burnt pretty much to the ground, and because of this, his entire mind was a blur. 

his entire thought process would be forever changed, only seeking revenge, hate, no sympathy would be made in his actions. he would do whatever he needed to do for himself. 

they arrived back at the burning house after walking down the long path, to see pretty much everything gone. 

"tommy.." sapnap starts, "you don't need to join me for this next part. i'm going to do something you may not like."

"you're in the right here sapnap!" tommy exclaims, "they burnt your house to the ground, i'm on your side!"

the older boy looks at the tall blonde, who is now giving him a reassuring look. 

"i'm gonna make them pay."

—————

sapnap had a plan - one that tommy didn't fully agree with, but promised to stick by his side through all of it until it was finished. 

at first he wanted to kill them, he was so angry, and filled with revenge. tommy reminded him who these people were to him, and eventually talked him out of it, but sapnap still wanted revenge. he wanted to make them hurt, so he decided on the only way he knew how - going after the things they loved. 

they were on their way to callahan and alyssa's house. what they all didn't know though, was that this would only be the start to sapnap's rampage. 

they walked into the empty house, callahan was at work in the palace, and they assumed ponk and alyssa were too scared to leave the community house. the sight before them stood, a dog in the middle of the floor, sitting there looking at them, cocking it's head to the side in curiosity. 

sapnap's eyes teared up, tommy knew this wasn't the best way, but he promised - and he wasn't going to break that promise. before he could intervene sapnap drew out his sword and stabbed the innocent dog on the floor before the animal could even know what was going on. 

tommy looked over to the boy, and a single tear streamed down his face, as he pulled the sword back out and left the house. they walked down the pathway and back towards the edge of the forest, towards one of the campsites where i assumed sapnap wanted to stay for the time being. he couldn't go to the community house, he couldn't go to callahan and alyssa's, he could go to ponk and punz's place, and he obviously couldn't go to his own. 

they decided here was a good place to stop, and set up for the night. sapnap was taking the second watch, as tommy slept peacefully on the grass after his first shift, a breeze blowing through his hair, and a cloak sapnap was wearing earlier acting as a blanket. 

the sun was starting to rise over the horizon, making tommy's face glow with light, and the campsite light up from the darkness of the night before. 

that's when sapnap heard a beep, a message on his tracker had been sent. he pulled out the electronic device and sat there in shock, not knowing what it meant. 

he shook the groggy boy awake, his eyes heavy as he tried to focus, "does this mean anything to you?" sapnap asks. he handed the tracker to tommy, and his eyes went wide as he read, 

tell tommy i have his discs. stop this fighting now. -dream

"what are the discs?" sapnap asks worried. 

"we need to get them back." tommy says, with all of the information sapnap needed to hear. tommy was there for sapnap with what happened yesterday - and now sapnap would be there for tommy, he didn't need to ask questions. they were in this together now. 

dream sent another reply, 

meet me in the ravine. i'll be there. 

—————

dream stood holding the discs in his hands, wearing his armor. he didn't know what would happen, but he knew he had to fix this one way or another. he didn't like when his friends fought, and if this tommy character he had been taking care of was only fueling the fire, he had to put a stop to it.

tommy and sapnap could be seen in the distance, climbing down the ladder to the underground ravine. the sound of water against cave floor, lava pools bubbling and creaking from the ladder under their feet filled the air as they drew closer to the ground. dream stood his ground, discs in hand. 

they finally touched the floor of the cave and stood to face dream, only seriousness filled the air now. 

"you need to give me those discs back dream." tommy says angrily.

"they really mean that much to you, huh?" he asks, and tommy nods through gritted teeth. 

"stop the fighting, sapnap. now. i will not stand here and watch all of this happen." he said. ponk and alyssa stood cowardly behind him, alyssa still had tears streaming down her face, eyes red from a night full of crying, and the glow of lanterns all around lit up the glistening tears. 

"they burnt my house down." he says angrily, "and i'm just supposed to forget it?" 

"yes. we're all friends sapnap, it was an accident. they didn't mean it."

sapnap's mind flashes to last night, the thoughts of killing alyssa's second dog on purpose. the motion of the sword swinging could be felt all throughout his hands. 

"do you know what i did last night?" he asks scared, and dream shakes his head no. "you didn't go home?" he asks alyssa.

"what did you do?" she asks angrily, but more concerned then anything. the talking stops, and everyone pauses for a moment scared, the only sound that can be heard is the water droplets echoing as they hit the floor. 

"your dog." he says, and that's all the answer alyssa needs to scream in shock and ponk holds her back while she tries to fight his resistance. she's screaming bloody murder now, hands clenched and flying all over the place. 

dream draws his sword and points it at tommy and sapnap, "what did you do?" 

"it's dead." sapnap says through tears welling up in his eyes. "i- i was so angry, i just, i didn't know what to do." his hands fall to his sides in defeat as dream steps closer, putting the tip of his sword at sapnap's throat. 

he looks him in the eyes, and unlike last night, the only thing that could be found in sapnap's eyes now were pain, sadness and regret, over the events of last night surging through his brain. but, he was still confused as to why he would do it again, if he could. 

he drops his sword to the ground, and the clink echos throughout the entire place, bouncing off the walls. sapnap stands there in shock, and the next thing that happens suprised everyone. dream punches him square in the face, sending him flying to the ground. he puts a hand over his face, his nose now bleeding, and he's groaning in pain. 

he then turns to tommy, who's stood wide-eyed staring at the situation. dream looks at him with a death glare, and punches him right in the jaw, sending tommy backwards. his vision fills with stars and his ears begin to ring, and the sound of coughs fill the cavern, and he's stood spitting blood on to the floor. 

"he didn't do anything dream!" sapnap screams, the discs were sat on the floor now, and tommy was only standing there in shock, the fact he had left them in the first place sent anger throughout his body, making him forget all about the pain. dream landed another punch, his right eye, and tommy coughed out in pain. 

"we can't have people like you here to divide us apart-"

"he isn't dividing us dream-"

"quiet!" he shouts clenching his fists, "you seem like a nice kid, tommy. you really do. but i'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"and what about my discs?" tommy asks sadly, the feeling of a bruise already forming around his eye disappears with the seriousness of the situation. 

"i'll be keeping them. as a price for our gratitude towards you." he says backing away from the boy. "we can still be friends tommy, but i can't have this slide." he looks over at sapnap, "and you are in trouble. you're not getting away with this." sapnap sits there nodding, excepting his defeat. 

"i understand. but you better understand this," tommy starts, "as long as i'm here, i will do anything to get those discs back."

"dream just give him the discs." sapnap mutters, trying to defend the younger boy. 

"no, i don't think i will. makes things a lot more interesting." he grins, the gash on his face didn't make it any better. the aura around him changed, and instead of what he felt earlier, the intimidating aura when they first met was gone. it was replaced with an aura tommy had never felt before; the feeling of pure evil. 

"goodbye tommy. keep in touch." dream smiles, and with that tommy grabs his bag and heads forwards the ladder, with no where to go. 

"tommy wait!" he hears someone shouting at him, he turns around to see sapnap running over to him. 

"i'm sorry." he says, dropping his arms to his sides, standing there defenseless. 

"it's okay. i had to leave at some point." he mutters, "i'll see you soon, okay?" sapnap nods his head, and with one look back he looks at his discs sparkling with the light of the lanterns reflecting off of them and begins climbing up the ladder.


	3. a friend

tommy has been hiding out at the campsite he was at a few days prior with sapnap. it's been 2 days, he's had little food, and no good idea of what to do.

he was walking down the dirt path, towards the heart of the city. he thought he could find something useful there, maybe find a possible job to start making some money - something, anything. 

when he entered the town he was greeted by hundreds of busy people walking around, shopping, working, hanging out with friends. he really didn't know the city was this big - he had never seen anything but the outskirts where he had been the past few days. 

his stomach growled, and his head hurt like hell. the bruise from two days ago was at its peak now, all black and blue against his skin. he could feel multiple judging and curious eyes on him as he walked down the street. 

the backpack he carried was sat firmly on his back, and his sword was drawn on the belt at his side. he thought people would be concerned here about carrying weapons through town, but it appeared to be normal. he wasn't the only one doing it, none of this was allowed in his old village. 

he stopped at the market and found an older man standing at the meat section. he gave him the few birds he killed earlier in the day, and exchanged it for 30 silver coins. to tommy it wasn't much, but it was a start. 

he continued walking towards the center of town, and when he got there the sight was one of a kind. a huge fountain stood in the middle, with shops, pop-ups, apartment complexes and houses everywhere around. town square buzzed with people and noise, the atmosphere was significantly different from where the community house stood. this place felt alive. he had never felt anything like it before. 

that's when tommy caught sight of a familiar looking boy, the same boy from a few days ago that came running up towards sapnap and himself. he didn't look as scared now, he was stood laughing with a young red haired man in a striped jacket. 

tommy felt jealous of people who had friends as such, it was something he had not felt in so long. 

the small brunette looked his way and caught his gaze, and tommy looked away flustered, starting to walk in the other direction embarrassed. he put both of his hands around the straps of his backpack and continued walking down the pathway. 

"hey!" he heard someone shout in the distance, but kept walking, assuming it wasn't for him. "wait! stop!" tommy stopped in his tracks and turned around, to see the smaller boy running up to him. 

"hello." tommy said confused, "do you need something?"

"hi!" the shorter boy bubbled, "we met the other day, i wanted to say sorry about your friends house."

"he's not really my friend." i scoff and turn my head to the side. 

"well, i never caught your name," he says smiling. 

he hasn't interacted with someone this bubbly and excited in years, and honestly, it was a quite refreshing feeling for tommy. 

"it's tommy, you?"

"tubbo." the boy smiles, "i've never seen you around here before."

"yeah, i just moved here... i guess." tommy says quietly, scratching the back of his neck. 

"that's cool! do you have a place to stay?" he asks concerned. tommy looks at the boy confused, the answer was no - he didn't have a place to stay, he didn't know anyone in this town besides dream and his gang. 

"not really, but in figuring it out." he replies, deciding to tell him the truth.

"well, if you want you can come with me! i wouldn't mind the company!" he says smiling. tommy had just met this boy a few minutes ago and he was already offering to let him stay at his house. he couldn't tell if he was incredibly stupid, or really generous - maybe a little bit of both. 

"i wouldn't want to intrude," tommy starts. 

"no, seriously, i wouldn't mind." the boy - tubbo, responds. 

"well, thanks. i guess i'll join you." tommy replies, and the smaller boy smiles in delight. the red haired boy he was talking to earlier appears from behind him, looking confused. 

"tommy this is fundy, fundy this is tommy." he says introducing the two boys. tommy gives him a small smile and he smiles back waving.

the boys spent the rest of the day in town, gathering food to bring back to tubbo's house and walking around the square. when they finally decided to head home tubbo led the way. they walked down a stone pathway towards a small community of houses that were all scattered around. 

tubbo started to walk towards the front door of his house, a two story wooden building, obviously not built by himself like dream's. tommy stood gawking at the house, continuing to follow right behind tubbo. they entered the house and it was nice, but pretty empty and undecorated. he sat the food they bought earlier on the kitchen counter and turned to face tommy. 

"so, where were you staying before this?" he asks, and tommy cringes at the thoughts from the days before. 

"you mean like in town, or?"

"no, like, everything, i guess." 

"well, i've been traveling a long time," he replies saddened, "but this guy found me in the woods when i got here, and told me i could stay with him."

"was that the guy who's house lit on fire?" he asks curiously. 

"no, it was a different guy." tommy says back cautiously. 

"oh, well looks like i'm not the first person to lend a helping hand to you." 

"yeah, well he pretty much kicked me out after what happened with his friends and their houses. he said he couldn't have someone getting between them all." tommy rolls his eyes at the thought. 

"well that's pretty rude." tubbo says crossing his arms. 

"you're tellin' me." tommy replies sarcastically, which causes tubbo to laugh, "but dream stole my two most prized-possessions. i told him i would get them back no matter what, but i don't know how i'm going to do it." tommy says, looking down towards the ground. 

"well, i guess i could help you!" tubbo says happily, which causes tommy to stand there in shock before looking up at him.

"really?"

"yeah!" he smiles, and tommy smiles slightly back at the boy. "where were you staying before you got here? you said you were traveling?"

"yeah, i was."

"why?"

tommy's mind runs to the burning village, the screaming people, and he turns his head to look away from tubbo, "just couldn't live where i was anymore."

deciding not to ask questions tubbo responds with a simple, "i'm sorry to here that."

"it's alright, it happens." tommy shrugs, trying to brush off the topic. 

"so, what's the plan to get back your prized-possessions?"

"y'know, i'm not really sure. we could always just, find them and steal them from his house."

"a classic plan. let's do it!" tubbo exclaims with a smile. 

tubbo made tommy feel a way he hasn't felt in a long time - welcomeness. sure, dream and his gang welcomed him into their home at first, but it wasn't the same. tommy knew that wouldn't last, but this, tubbo felt like he would last. 

—————

it's been three days, and it was finally the time tubbo and tommy were planning on sneaking in and stealing the discs from dream. they were both sat in the bushes outside of the community home, trying to decide if anyone was in the house of not.

the past few days have been pretty good for tommy; he never thought he would meet a friend like this ever again. tubbo and tommy just clicked- it was instant. 

tommy had asked about his childhood, but it seemed like a pretty sensitive topic, something he didn't want to talk about; because of that tommy didn't ask anymore questions. he respected his boundaries, just like how tubbo had respected his days before. 

but he told tommy the date, and he finally found out how long he'd really been traveling - almost 6 months. it wasn't what he expected, but he wasn't surprised either. tommy was 17 now, his birthday had been two months ago, and it's was june now. summer time. he should have assumed what time of year it was because of the weather, but he never put that much thought in to it. 

tubbo worked for a man named wilbur, who owned a brewery towards the center of town. he said when he got to bevurian wilbur took him in, and acted like an older brother to him. he gave him a job, helped him make money, and while tubbo didn't have a house he allowed him to stay at his own. when tubbo finally got enough money he moved out and bought the place he's in now. meaning he stayed with wilbur for about 8 months. 

tommy came to the conclusion that's why he was so welcoming towards him in the first place. the reason he allowed tommy to stay with him was because he was once in tommy's situation as well. tubbo knew how he felt. 

but now, they were both crouched outside of dream's home. searching for life and movement inside. 

that's when dream exited the house, heading towards the northern woods, which they assumed was to go hunting. this was their time. the two boys ran from out of the bushes and into the house. tommy closed the door behind them and they quickly went to the chests to start looking for the discs, but they found nothing. 

right when they were about to give up the floorboard creaked from under tubbo's feet, and they looked at each other in shock. 

they both fell to the ground, moving the board to the side, and behold sat the two discs. tommy smiled a toothy grin and picked them up, quickly putting them in his backpack. they both nodded at each other, got up and ran out of the house, not looking back. 

they sprinted down the dirt path as tommy clutched the strings of his bag while he ran. both of their hair flowing in the wind, sun beaming down on their laughing faces, smiling at the success of their first mission together. 

both boys finally got back to tubbo's house, and tommy hid the discs in a ceiling board in the guest bedroom where tubbo was letting him stay. 

he was thankful for tubbo and all that he did for him, that he took him in; he was thankful to have a friend like him. he couldn't have asked for anything better in that moment. 

—————

it's been almost a full day since tommy and tubbo stole the discs back from dream, and there's been no word from anyone in his gang. they were all confused, questioning where it could have gone, pinning everyone against each other. 

dream sent sapnap to go find tommy, to see if he had them and if he did to bring them back. sapnap had been looking for him for about an hour in town square, with no sight of him. 

that's when he heard the high pitched laughing coming from the brewery to his right. his head jolted to the right and there stood the tall blonde boy, next to the brunette stranger that warned them about his house. sapnap was glad he met a friend, but he had his own friends too, and he would do whatever he could to make them happy. if that meant retrieving the discs for dream, then he would.

sapnap walked over to tommy, and when he caught sight of him he immediately tensed up. 

"hey tommy!" sapnap says, and waves over to him, which resulted in tommy waving back, "how are you?"

"i've been alright, is everything okay with you?" tommy asks concerned. sapnap replies with the truth - that all of them in dream's gang were doing good now. that everything was fine and sapnap had moved in with callahan and alyssa while he tried to find a place of his own. 

"what about you? where are you staying?" sapnap asks. the blonde haired boy looks over to his smaller friend and gives him a smile. 

"this is tubbo, he's letting me stay with him a little while." 

"that's really nice of you man." sapnap says. 

"thanks, i really don't mind at all though." tubbo replies smiling looking over at tommy, to see him smiling as well. sapnap finally got a good look at the two of them, and the height difference was almost hilarious in a way. tommy stood a good 7 inches above him. but he was glad tommy had found a friend, even if it was just one.

"so, where do you live?" sapnap asks tommy. 

"oh, we were just about to head home, if you want to join us for dinner feel free." tubbo smiles to him, and sapnap almost feels bad for needing to take the discs back. the two younger boys were so nice, he didn't want to ruin things for them. but for dream, for his friends - he had to. it's what they want. 

"yeah, that sounds great, thanks." sapnap smiles. 

"let me just say bye to wilbur and we'll go." tubbo says, entering the brewery. he had just finished his shift at work, and tommy came by to walk home with him since he was already in town. 

the small boy came back outside and the three of them were on their way home to tubbo's house. walking in the cold air, and the small breeze brushed past their skin. the only sound heard was of their shoes brushing against the pavement, kicking rocks as they went. 

the three boys finally got to tubbo's house where he started to make the dinner with stuff from the fridge. while tommy stood next to him trying to figure out how to help. tommy wasn't a good cook - not as good as tubbo, he wanted to at least try. but tubbo was convinced if he did he would burn the entire house down with his clumsiness. so he just sat there with his head propped up on his hand, watching in wonder as the smaller boy made the food. 

"where's the bathroom?" sapnap asks, trying to excuse himself from the situation. 

"upstairs to the left." tubbo replies, continuing to work on the food. 

sapnap dismissed himself and headed up the stairs, looking for tommy's new room. he opens up a door and there sat tommy's bag on the middle of the floor. closing it quietly behind him he opens the bag, but to his luck there was nothing inside. he walks over to the bedside table and looks in the drawers, but nothing. the chests, nothing. behind the picture frames, nothing. he looked for loose floorboards, but there was nothing. 

there was only one other place it could be; his eyes gazed up at the ceiling, and saw the vent loosely unscrewed, ever so slightly it wouldn't be noticeable to someone who wasn't looking for it. he stood up on the bed and unscrewed the vent, and there they were. the two green and purple discs were sitting there, seemingly untouched by humanity - hidden away. 

sapnap smiled to himself, stuffing the two discs into his backpack and putting the vent screws back in place. he slowly headed back downstairs, pulling out his tracker pad for an excuse. 

"hey guys, i'm so sorry. but i really have to get home, george just messaged me saying it's important." he said, trying to act saddened, but the two boys understood and said goodbye as he left. 

he walked slowly out of the house and down the path, but once he was out of view he took of in a sprint, gripping his backpack containing the two discs inside.


	4. the discs

tommy's discs were now gone, and he knew that sapnap took them. with an angered expression he walked down the stairs towards tubbo, who was looking at him concerned. 

"sapnap took the discs back." tommy said angrily, with tubbo only standing there, mouth agape in complete shock. 

"what are we gonna do?" 

"i've gotta face him. speak to him in person." tommy says, putting his hands on his face. 

tubbo walks over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "it's alright man, we'll get it back!" he says positively. tommy only smiles at the boys positive attitude and nods, taking in the reassurance. 

that night tommy and tubbo set out for dream's house, bringing all the stuff they would need in a backpack tubbo was carrying. it wasn't much, just water, some food and gold coins from tommy's trading in the town and tubbo's job at the brewery. 

tommy was wearing a netherite chest plate he had traded for in town the other day. he got it for the low price of a deer he caught in the northern woods and 10 gold coins and tommy was pretty happy with it. he carried his father's sword at his side, swinging it as he walked with tubbo following behind, letting the taller boy lead the way. 

the air was crisp, the moon was full and everything around them had a serious feel to it. this was important, whatever was about to go down, had to be for a good reason. tommy needed to get those discs back, no matter what the cost would be. 

the house was now in view and the sun was set below the horizon. dream was standing outside of his house with his mask hooked on his face, his long hair in a bun on the back of his head, and a green cape laid across his shoulders. 

"dream." tommy snarls, "where are the discs." 

"you mean, my discs?" he cocks his head to the side questioning. george was stood on his left and sapnap on his right, both holding weapons, seemingly ready to attack. 

"they're mine." tommy says, "you have no idea what those mean to me."

"maybe i don't, but i do know i love chaos," he laughs, "and i really want to see how this will play out."

"i don't want to take them by force, dream. i want to be friends with you." tommy says shakily. 

"i want to be friends too tommy, but i need a little bit of action. i like the idea of having control over situations, tommy, i really do. one thing you should know about me by now is i love having the upper hand. so do it." he snarls, grabbing his axe from his side belt and shield that was propped up against the side of the house. "whoever wins the fight, wins the discs."

"i don't want to fight with you. we don't have to do this!"

"how about, you give me that shiny new chest plate of yours then? and i'll give you the discs."

"how about, you give me the discs because they are mine." tommy grips his hand around the bottom of his sword, pointing it at the faceless man, and he runs towards the blonde boy swinging his axe. 

tommy jumps to the side, dodging his attack and tubbo rushes away avoiding the two. tommy slashes his sword at the man, but he blocks it with his shield, pushing him back a step. he side swings his weapon towards tommy and he ducks, just barely missing his head. 

dream takes a step back, panting a little bit, before rushing back in and swinging his axe from the top, trying to get tommy's head. instead, he dodged and it just barely misses, cutting the tip of his ear open in the process. 

"tommy!" tubbo shouts, looking over he tosses him and shield, he catches it and blocks another attack right in time. 

george, sapnap and tubbo stood there in shock, watching the whole scene play out before them. it was something out of a movie, neither of them gaining significant ground. it seemed to be they were both on even playing fields for fighting. but this was because tommy was wearing his chest plate, dream still had more experience. he was still shocked at the way tommy was able to fight back like this. 

maybe it was the adrenaline rushing through his veins, maybe it was the life or death situation, or maybe it was the thought of losing his discs forever to this crooked man. 

tommy strikes again, knocking dream back a few steps, stumbling on his feet. he takes the opportunity to kick dream's shield, sending him flying back on to the ground. he grabs his axe that fell on the ground and quickly gets back up, swinging his feet and knocking tommy to the ground instead. 

the younger boy scrambles for his shield, blocking an attack just as fast as it came down on him. he panted for breath and quickly jumped up from his position. he swung towards the older man, who dodged the attack and took a step to the side, running towards him and jumping at the younger boy. knocking both of their weapons to the ground in the process. 

tommy was now laying on his back weaponless, with the older mans knee sat on his chest as he desperately looked for his own weapon. but when dream was looking around frantically tommy took the opportunity to swing a punch towards his chin, getting payback for the time he did it to him. he fumbled backwards onto his butt, his vision blurring at the impact. tommy took the chance to tackle the man now, ripping his mask off and throwing it to the side. 

sapnap stood there shocked, about to go help the two, when george only put a hand on his shoulder. shaking his head no, as if reading his mind at what he was thinking. 

tommy punched him square in the face, once, twice, three times. dream's head hit against the ground each time, and blood poured from his nose with the impact of his fist. his lip now had an open wound with blood gushing out of it. he raised a hand and caught tommy's fist before it could hit again, twisting it to the side and causing him to yelp in pain. 

dream returned the punch to a now clueless tommy, who was shaking his hand trying to get the pain out of his wrist. tommy bolted up from his sitting position and used his foot to kick dream right in the gut, sending him flying back to the ground. 

he sat there, wheezing in pain, trying to catch his breathe while coughing up blood onto the path. 

tommy grabbed the sword from the ground while he was huddled over his stomach clenching it. he pointed it right at the temple of his forehead, "do you surrender?" 

dream looked up at tommy defeated, a bloody face to prove it. he only sits there and tommy grips his sword tighter, causing dream to nod as he coughs up more blood on the floor. tommy walks past him to the front door where sapnap was holding the discs. he holds out his spare hand for him and he complied. taking the two discs in his hand the boy walked down the path, with tubbo running after him. 

—————

it was morning now, and tommy was in a lot of pain. he was sore everywhere from the fight last night; with bruises all over his body, blistered knuckles from all the punches he landed, a bloody lip and a cut on his cheek were all there to prove it. 

he put a bandage over his cheek then headed downstairs to see tubbo sitting in the kitchen, seeming happy as usual. 

"you're awake!" he exclaims, "i have some good news!"

"what is it?" tommy asks startled at the sudden burst of energy. 

"i got you a job!" he smiles happily, "wilbur agreed to let you help me at the brewery!" 

"i- that's amazing! thank you so much man!" tommy says, walking over to hug his friend, he hugs him back and he smiles with happiness. 

"i hoped you'd be excited!" he says back, "if you want, he said you could start today when i go in for work!"

"that would be great." tommy smiles to him. 

"okay, go get dressed. we'll leave soon!" he says, running upstairs excited. tommy smiled at the thought of his friend caring enough to put in a good word for him like this. 

he couldn't believe things were finally starting to look up. 

after six months of hard work and struggling, he was finally here. it had only been a little more than a week in bevurian, but he was happier then he has been in a long time; he wasn't going to let the opportunity he had been given just slip away.

after tommy had gotten dressed him and tubbo went into town to head to the brewery. it was finally saturday, so the town was buzzing with more activity than usual. tubbo had a skip in his step as he walked past the crowds of people stood outside of all of the shops and trading stands. 

tubbo caught sight of the brewery and pointed to it while looking back at tommy. he only laughed at the gesture and the smaller boy took off in a sprint towards the store. when tommy walked in, he could see how busy the place was. a man just a little taller than tommy stood to his right talking to tubbo, and he assumed this man was wilbur. 

wilbur had fluffy brown that draped in front of his face, and he was wearing a white collared shirt. he was quite skinny for his size, and he was wearing a pair of glasses that sat right on the top of his nose. he was smiling, and looked pretty content in the moment. 

tubbo looked over at tommy and gave him a reassuring smile, "tommy this is wilbur." 

tommy extended his hand for him to shake and he did, "it's very nice to meet you."

"it's nice to meet you as well, tommy."

—————

fundy was sitting at the shop table playing some sort of board game. fundy always loved to stay at the brewery with wilbur while he was working, he never really liked to be away from him. 

wilbur was fundy's dad, he had fundy right when he turned 18. his mother left soon afterwards though, making wilbur a single dad to take care of their son on his own. when fundy came out as transgender to wilbur he welcomed him with open arms, and made sure he knew nothing fundy ever did could ever make wilbur hate him, and ever since then he's been by his side. fundy felt lucky he had a dad like him. 

he was 19 now, and wilbur was 37. his bright red hair he got from his mom sat on the top of his head, along by his red furry ears. he had lots of freckles and a pale complexion, he was also frail due to the extremely fast metabolism he had. he often was referred to as looking like a fox because of his ears, which he liked, it made him feel a sense of worth in a strange way. 

he liked talking to tubbo, and enjoyed the time when he stayed in their house with them. he liked having another person there, because fundy has always been a people person; even if he didn't often show it. 

"fundy!" tubbo yells and runs up behind him, wrapping his arms around his neck. fundy turns around smiling and hugs him back. he looks past him to see the blonde boy from a few days ago standing there awkwardly. 

"it's you again." fundy says to him, and he looks away flustered and laughing. 

"tommy is living with me for right now." tubbo replies smiling. tommy awkwardly looks back chuckling to himself still. he was wearing a white shirt with red sleeves and blue jeans - the same thing he was wearing when we first met. he was a strange kid, he must have been going through something if he was going to be living with tubbo. 

"well it'll be nice to have you around." fundy says, giving tommy a smile and he sends a genuine smile back. with that tubbo gets to work on training him for his first day of work on the job. 

—————

"that guy was so drunk! did you see him when he fell?" tommy wheezes, they had just finished tommy's first day at work and they were walking back to tubbo's house. swinging the bag of food in his hands they had bought for dinner, tubbo was skipping on the path in front of him. 

"guys get like that in there all the time." tubbo replies laughing, "you're in for a treat." the laughing subsides and silence fills the air, the only sound being the breeze of the wind rushing by their ears and the sound of tubbo's feet skipping against the stone pathway. 

"thank you again." tommy speaks up, "i really don't know what i would have done if you weren't there you know." he rubs the back of his neck flustered, kicking a rock on the ground. 

"of course, i'm happy to help." he says, turning around to face him and giving tommy a toothy smile, "and i'm happy we're friends."

friends. 

the words filled tommy's ears and heart with warmth, a friend. he had really gone and done it. his life was just beginning here. 

"i'm happy we're friends too."


	5. viva la revolution

it's been almost a month since tommy moved to bevurian. he's been pretty busy everyday with his new job, and with all the money he's been earning he bought a small house a few blocks away from tubbo's. he didn't want to be in his hair, and thought it would be best for him to buy a house of his own. it was nothing special, just a two room home, one for all the essentials and a bedroom. but he was happy with it, and he was proud of himself for getting it. 

in the time he's been here, tommy has grown out of his shy and awkward phase, to no ones surprise being alone for six months can really do a mental toll on someone. but he's found himself again, from before everything happened to him. he's become the funny, loud, and obnoxious kid he once was. 

he was almost complete opposites from tubbo, he was quiet, caring and patient, but they had a good dynamic. they both completed each other's qualities. tubbo was patient for tommy and tommy was impulsive for tubbo. 

they haven't heard much from dream and his gang, he had seen them a few times and they would stop and say hi. tommy assumed he wasn't lying when he said he still wanted to be friends after everything that happened - he must be a real psychopath. 

tommy was walking to work with a skip in his step, it was december now, things were significantly colder then a month ago. it didn't have the right kind of conditions for it to snow where they all lived in bevurian, but it was still just as cold. it only really snowed in the northern woods. 

the shop came into view and tubbo waved at the tall boy from the entrance of the small store. tommy waved back and picked up the pace to go meet him, and they walked into the shop together. it wasn't as busy today because there were a lot of things going on at the castle; this meaning it would effect things going on in the entire kingdom. they walked to the back room where the kitchen was an opened the door, to see a concerned wilbur with his head placed in his hands. 

"wilbur, what's wrong?" tubbo asks scared, hesitantly walking over to him and placing a hand on his back. 

"i just can't live in bevurian anymore, it's so unfair here." wilbur starts, shaking his head from side to side in disappointment. 

"why? what happened?" tommy asks. he looks up at the two younger boys and takes a deep breath. 

"tubbo, y'know how i sell drugs for another source of income?" he asks hesitantly, "and make them for fundy?"

"yeah, what about it?" tubbo asks, tommy just standing puzzled behind him. 

"the kingdom is banning usage and selling of drugs. fundy and i won't be able to live here anymore." he says through a shaky voice. 

"what are you going to do?"

"we're going to have to leave. fundy - he needs them, and i can't just stop getting them for him. i don't make enough money for our house without the second job."

"maybe i could help-"

"no, tubbo. you barely make enough money for one person. you can't help me and fundy." both of them hesitate, tubbo lost in thought for a moment. 

"maybe we could all leave." tubbo breaks the silence and suggests, "start a new life in a new place that allows it." 

"i- i don't know where we would go." wilbur says defeated, which causes tubbo's heart to hurt. 

"why don't we all just run away, we can start a new life and make a new city!" tubbo says cheerfully. 

"you know that's just about impossible, right? how difficult that is?" wilbur says to the jolly kid. 

"no i'm serious!" he says, "you still have that van, don't you?"

"yeah, what about it?"

"we can move it to a new location, start over there!" tubbo says, "and as funny as this sounds you can just continue to make drugs in it!" he says laughing. 

"it's a good idea tubbo, but i just don't think it'll work. it would be like a whole revolution against king eret," wilbur says, "and it would only be four of us."

"oh who cares!" tommy says butting in, "i'm with tubbo on this, let's make a new nation! one where everyone is equal, this is what i've been looking for. we can make it ourselves, and everything could be perfect."

"it's not a bad idea, but what about king eret?" wilbur asks, "we can't just take his land for our own and start a new nation."

"oh who cares! they'll never have to find out! we can make it in the southern woods, far enough away from here but still close enough to life. you can still work your job here, and run your side business. then we can go to the shops and get food when we need." tubbo says, "you have to do this. for fundy."

"i know i do. but i can't ask you two boys to join me in this." wilbur says, "it's almost a big joke."

"i don't think it's a joke, i think it's a great idea. society here in bevurian is corrupt anyways. we can have a land for everyone to be free, not just the people they pick and choose here." tubbo says while raising his hands in the air. 

wilbur smiles at the two boys who both seem to be gleaming with happiness. they really did think it was a good idea, even if they had no idea of what they were truly getting themselves into. 

—————

wilbur parked the van in the middle of the forest clearing and stepped out of the car. he smelt fresh pine, everything out here was clean, untouched. it was the feeling tommy felt when he first stepped into the forest; everything here was pure. 

the three boys stumbled out of the back of the van and looked around at the tall trees surrounding them in every direction. 

it was surreal in a way - that they were all about to start a new life out here; having no idea this would change the nation forever. so they got to work, they set up a camp site, made a fire, set up sleeping bags and formed tents. 

tubbo and tommy agreed they wouldn't be living there for the time being, they would still be staying at their own homes - but they would still be there in their free time. 

wilbur spent the night setting up his lab, organizing all of his potions and products in the van. he had taught tubbo a few months ago everything he needed to know, he told him how much he loved doing this, how brewing anything was just a passion of his. tubbo found it fascinating - as he would find anyone having a passion this strong fascinating. 

later that night he tried teaching tommy how to do things in the van, and of course he only made jokes about it. talking about how much he loved drugs and how he himself would become a drug dealer. wilbur found it funny of course, even though he knew it wasn't true. wilbur didn't do drugs himself, he only made the ones fundy needed to live normally and sold them to people who actually took them. 

the four boys were huddled in the van, wilbur teaching tommy the ropes of brewing, when they heard a knock on the door to the van. wilbur hesitantly opened it and there stood the familiar man tommy and tubbo encountered a few days ago. 

"what are you doing out here?" sapnap asks confused, catching sight of tommy and tubbo behind wilbur in the van. sapnap scrunches his nose in disgust to the small and plugs it with two of his fingers, "what is that awful smell?"

"what are you doing out here sapnap?" tommy asks, taking another step towards the door. 

"i could ask you the same thing- are you brewing drugs?" he asks in a funny voice, his nose still being plugged by his fingers. "you can't be doing that out here, you know drugs are being banned in bevurian."

"this isn't bevurian."

"it sure as hell is."

"this is gonna be a new nation for freedom, and opportunities to do whatever people please to do." wilbur says, taking another step towards sapnap, which makes him take a step back in fear towards the taller man. 

"oh yeah, and what would this new nation be then?" sapnap asks sarcastically, obviously not catching the seriousness in wilbur's voice. 

"welcome to l'manberg." 

—————

when sapnap was young, his dad was a drug abuser; he would beat him and call him awful names. it was the most traumatic experience that has ever happened in his life, and he believes that's the reason why he turned out the way he did. 

he doesn't allow people to push him around, he grew muscle so he could make sure no one that wanted to hurt him or his friends could. he's hesitant towards new people and people other than his friends in general. he has had trust issues, and never knows what to believe - but he does believe he has good intentions. he can never see over his own point of view, he always thinks he's in the right, even if he clearly isn't. 

when sapnap found out tommy was helping start a new nation he felt sick to his stomach. that's why sapnap was so against the idea of it, he didn't believe they would go through with it - he thought they were joking for a while, but it's been a month now. 

people were being recruited from town square to l'manberg. random citizens were leaving their jobs and starting new there, looking for a better life, starting a revolution against bevurian. shops in town were going out of buisness because customers were leaving, and because of that they started to move their buisnesses to l'manberg. it was better for a lot of people, and sapnap had no idea how they were doing it. how they were being so successful down there. 

he remembered telling dream as soon as he got home from hunting the night he found out. dream laughed at the idea of them starting a whole nation from nothing but a van. but there they were proving him wrong. 

sapnap went down there everyday, looking at the progress from the outskirts of l'manberg; every day they were making significant progress. houses were being built by carpenters they recruited, shops were going up, food stores, clothing stores, blacksmiths, even wilbur's brewery was recreated and the place was sold in bevurian to a new guy. 

sapnap was on his way to l'manberg, they had all been hard at work down there. the nation was now in view and what he saw shocked him, they had walls being built around the entire nation. a good 25 people working hard on building them up, and at the front of it all stood wilbur in a construction uniform, ordering people around and tossing people bricks. 

sapnap ran, he had to go tell someone, he had to go tell dream. they had to do something because in his eyes, what they were doing was wrong. they couldn't get away with this. 

—————

"a new nation?" asked the tall, intimidating man. sapnap, dream and callahan were stood at the foot of the throne. facing king eret and telling him about the nation of l'manberg. the throne room was massive, white pillars stood up on the side walls and the giant red throne sat right in the middle. they kneeled on a long red carpet facing the king; a giant chandelier hanging above them. 

"yes, sir. the citizens are starting a revolution." dream speaks up, staying kneeled on the ground before him. "what shall we do?"

"there will be no revolution, in bevurian." the king speaks, "put a stop to this. immediately. i'm putting you in charge sir dream." dream nods at the gesture and stands up facing him. the king wore a red cape and golden crown, an intimidating aura swept through the air, clashing with dream's similar aura. the king was a corrupt man, many people in bevurian didn't agree with him, they assumed that's why l'manberg had so many new members. 

"yes sir. is this war?" dream asks. 

"whatever you want to refer to it as, be my guest. but take them out or find something we could use." the king says, "you will attack in weeks time."

with this dream's nods, and the two other boys leave the castle, heading back to their houses. but stood in the darkest corner of the room, listening to the whole thing was prince eret ii, son of king eret and heir to the throne; and the prince had an idea. 

—————

"wilbur!" yelled a man running towards wilbur who was standing outside of tommy and tubbo's newly built shared house. they had decided to have one house in l'manberg's walls and keep their houses inside of bevurian, just in case they needed something from there. 

"what is it?" wilbur asks, looking at the sweating man. 

"prince eret is here." he pants, and wilbur's eyes go wide in shock. he fixed his posture and nods to the man, he takes the hint and leads him to the prince, tommy and tubbo following right behind him. 

the prince stood at 6 feet tall, just a little shorter than wilbur and tommy. he wore a red welder cape and black leather boots, with a crown sat on top of his short curly brown hair. 

the prince caught sight of them and walked their way, "you must be wilbur." he says, extending a hand for him to shake. 

"yes, that would be me." wilbur responds, shaking his hand, "is there a problem here?"

"i wanted to inform you that my father is not happy with your revolution here." he speaks up, and it sends chills down wilbur's spine. "but i don't agree with him."

"what?" tommy asks confused. 

"i don't like the way my father rules things, and i've wanted to do something about it for a while now," he says, "i want to put a stop to it."

wilbur hesitates, "what does that mean?"

"i want to help you and l'manberg to make a new nation away from my father's." prince eret says, and it put a shocked expression onto the three boys' faces. 

"really?" tubbo asks excited, and eret nods. 

"but there's also something else," eret starts, "they're planning an attack." 

"what kind of attack?" wilbur asks distressed. 

"well, in the words of the man he hired a war."

"a war? against l'manberg?" wilbur speaks, and eret nods his head. "who did he hire?"

"a man named dream and a few friends of his."

tommy's eyes go wide and he grits his teeth in anger, clenching his fists at his side. tubbo notices and puts a hand on his back, trying to calm him down. 

"when?" tommy asks irritated. 

"about a weeks time. you need to be ready."

"we will." wilbur says to the prince, "thank you. you have done a great deed for our nation."

"thank you. i'm glad i could be of use."

"will you fight along side us?" tubbo asks curiously, and eret nods with a smile. 

and then it was official. l'manberg was going to war against dream, his gang and the people loyal to bevurian. they had a weeks time to prepare - build the rest of the walls, finish the uniforms and weapons being made in the blacksmiths. they were nervous, they didn't know if they could succeed, but they would try their best, and they would fight with all their heart,

for the symphony of l'manberg.


	6. the battle of l’manberg

forever, the nation of bevurian have cast great sins upon our great land of l'manberg. 

they have robbed us, griefed us, threatened us. will and have kill many of our men. 

this time of tyranny ends with us. 

this book declares that the nation which will be henceforth known as l'manberg is separate, emancipated and independent from the nation of bevurian. 

the union of the masters of men. together we are one. when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one to dissolve the bonds which bind us. disregarding of this truth is nothing short of tyranny. 

we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal. 

the right of the people exists above the rights of the king, the right of the government and the right of the economy. 

from l'manberg we shall prevail. 

life. liberty. and the pursuit of victory. 

—————

it's been four days since l'manberg found out they would be attacked, and the nation has been hectic ever since. everyone has been busy with their jobs, getting things ready in case something bad were to happen. 

they have been talking back and forth with prince eret, figuring out plans and ideas for battle. he had much more experience with this sort of thing then wilbur did, so he found it amazing he was willing to help.

tommy and tubbo were in the shops picking up the l'manberg uniforms a nice younger woman named niki was making for them. she was a short brunette haired woman, with the two front strands of her hair dyed blonde. she was pale and short, but she seemed kind and trustworthy. she seemed like the kind of person you would meet and spend forever thinking about. 

the uniforms she handed the two boys were a white frilled collared shirt, it had good accent buttons and a blue jacket with golden shoulder pads. a red lining near the torso, white pants and black combat boots. they were fitted perfect to their sizes - she could really work magic.

the two boys ran out of the shop excited, chasing each other around and running to the pond in the middle of the nation. they sat down on a makeshift bench and watched as the walls went up, taking in the scenery of everything. there were trees everywhere, leaves rustling in the wind. 

the two boys sat there for hours, watching as wilbur ordered people around to keep building the walls higher and higher. it was about 20 feet tall when they stopped for the day, tomorrow they would work on finishing it off. 

a wild fundy is seen running into the walls of l'manberg towards the two boys on the bench, ducking under construction workers holding large pieces of wood. he's waving a piece of paper frantically in the air. he finally makes it over to the two boys and hands them the paper, putting his hands on his knees to catch his breath. 

declaration of war,

in the words of king eret, bevurian declares war on l'manberg. 

we want white flags, and if there are none inside your borders: two days time, we attack. 

\- dream

tommy looks up at the two boys who both look frazzled, but they all knew this was coming. he gets up from the bench to find wilbur and shows him the note. wilbur has a mischievous grin plastered on his face, he knew this was coming - and he was ready.

—————

the wall was finally done; thick, being about 30 feet high, surrounding the entirety of l'manberg.

the battle was tomorrow. the battle that would decide everything for their new country; one that was just started a month and a half ago, out of nothing but a van in the woods. but one that they would protect with everything they had in them.

it was sunset now; and tommy and tubbo could be found outside of the walls, watching it go down under the horizon. they laid on a large slanted hill, on top of all the foliage from the trees, looking over the southern forest. they had the most perfect view of everything in the area, even bevurian could be seen from here. the sky was filled with orange and pink, it lit up the trees and themselves in a golden color. 

it was silent for a while; but a comfortable silence. they took in the scenery, making sure it all lasted before tomorrow - the day that would decide everything.

tommy was thankful for tubbo - more than he could ever describe. he missed having someone to watch the sunsets with, he had been so lonely for so long, and unknown to tommy's knowledge, tubbo had felt the exact same way. 

tommy wasn't good with emotions, he wasn't good at expressing feelings, but he knew if he really needed to he could. he was a stubborn, extroverted, hot-headed kid, who got angered easily, loved to pick a good fight and was up to any challenge that headed his way; even if deemed impossible.

all these qualities made him who he was - good or bad. for so long he had forgotten who he was, had forgotten his personality, his way to laugh and crack jokes like he used to. but now, when he was with wilbur, tubbo and fundy, everything was so much clearer in his head. in such a short amount of time he had learned how to laugh like himself again, to have fun like the kid he still was. 

wilbur often made fun of him for being so young - even though tubbo was younger than him. he acted like he didn't find the jokes funny, but deep down he enjoyed them. he looked up to wilbur, and even if he called him a 'child' at times, he knew it was to be in a loving way. 

"tommy?" the smaller boy asked, piercing through the silence that once accompanied them. 

"yes, tubbo?"

"i'm really happy we met; and i mean it completely when i say it."

tommy turns over on his side to look at the boy, who's looking forward with a genuine smile on his face. 

"i'm happy we met too." tommy smiles, looking back up at the sky, to see the sun finally lower below the horizon. 

—————

"independence, or death." wilbur speaks, "if we get no revolution we want nothing. we would rather die." 

wilbur was stood at a podium, speaking to the crowd of l'manberg citizens in uniform who were cheering for their newly found leader. 

today was the day, the day of the war. everything was prepared, the walls were built, armor was finished, weapons were made, food was stored, everything was distributed out. everyone who wasn't fighting today were ordered to stay inside of their homes for safety precautions. no one had any idea what would happen today - but they all hoped for the best. they hoped no one would be severely injured, that they would proclaim victory.

wilbur finished with his speech, and they began there march to battle. everyone drew shields at their sides and weapons in hand. the battle would begin on the open field in between the edge of the southern woods and the edge of township in bevurian. 

soldiers could be seen in the distance, dream was stood up front wearing full armor. sapnap and punz stood at his sides, shields hoisted up in front of them. wilbur stopped their men in their tracks, and before anyone could process what was happening they were firing with arrows upon each other. 

tommy pulled out his shield, blocking an arrow just in time and firing one back. arrows flew past him, it was as if they would never stop, like they had an unlimited supply. a few men had rushed into the middle to start fighting with their weapons, knocking each other to the ground, stabbing each other in the stomachs. 

they spent what seemed like a lifetime firing the arrows and fighting in the middle, until something unexpected happened - dream's army began to fled and run in the opposite direction. 

wilbur didn't know what was happening, but he ordered l'manberg to move back into the woods and back into l'manberg to prepare for what would happen next. wilbur ran up behind fundy and put a hand on his back, walking with him into the woods. 

tommy could spot prince eret to their left, barely touched by anything, he had a natural glow to him that also helped with his appearance right now. tommy was shocked when eret said he would fight along side them - he would have thought eret had just about no idea how to fight, no knowledge of anything like this. but tommy didn't complain, one more person for l'manberg was just one more person in tommy's eyes. 

wilbur led the army back into the walls, and once inside eret pulled him to the side. 

wilbur's eyes lit up with surprise when he started talking, speaking of a secret hideout he had planned beforehand. containing tons of things for l'manberg that could help with the war. he had meant to mention it before, but thought now would be the best time to use it. of course wilbur agreed, and grabbed his best men to follow him and secure the things. 

prince eret led wilbur, tommy, tubbo and fundy through the woods. he had hidden the supplies in a cave that led underground, one that no one would suspect to look in if they ever saw it. 

eret pulled back the vines that disclosed the cave, and they could see a dark abyss in front of them, lit up by small lanterns that were hammered into the sides of the walls. the faint glow of the light echoed off of the walls, creating an eery feeling throughout the cave. 

"this way, gentlemen." eret said, as he walked inside first, the rest of the boys following closely behind him. 

what they saw next shocked everyone, a small section of the cave, dimly lit by the lights. it had chests in each corner with peoples names written on them, eret had really gone and done it - he had supplied l'manberg with supplies, creating an almost unstoppable army. 

but before tommy could open the chest with his name he heard an almost silent gulp from his friend beside him. looking over he saw tubbo standing there, a knife placed to his throat and a masked man behind him - none other than dream himself. he turned him around and stabbed tubbo in the shoulder, kicking him to the ground and running over to tommy. 

he stood there in shock with wide eyes; his reaction time not being fast enough. he could feel a sharp pain in his gut as he got kicked to the floor; dream then kicking him directly in the face, his head hitting the cold floor and erupting in an indescribable pain. 

tommy winced, laying on the ground clutching his stomach. his face bled and he coughed blood onto the cave floors. hearing the sound of wincing and groaning all around him, he looked up to see the men hovering above them all. they all looked like blurs to tommy, but he could make out one thing - eret was stood in front of all of them.

"down with the revolution boys," eret speaks, "it was never meant to be."

his voice sent chills down tommy's spine and he groaned in disgust at the situation. as they turned to leave the room tommy could feel his throat start to move and words begin to flow out of his mouth. 

"eret," he says, and the tall prince looks back at him. with blurry vision, pained gut and bloody face tommy speaks, "you fucked up."

eret laughs at the statement and turns back around, following the other men out of the cave; leaving the four boys whimpering in the dark cave. 

after a few minutes tommy had the strength to get up from the floor and help the others up. he had ripped off a piece of his uniform and handed it to tubbo to apply pressure to his wound, promising we would get back as soon as possible to help him. he helped the limping boy out of the cave, fundy and wilbur following them. 

they arrived at l'manberg and the citizens welcomed them and grabbed tubbo out of tommy's grasp, rushing him to the medical unit they had. 

tommy's eyes followed tubbo as he was taken away on the stretcher which was now soaked with blood from his shoulder and his nose scrunched in denial at the look of it. 

"tommy..." wilbur starts to speak, gaining tommy's attention to avert to him. "basically we have a lower opportunity here, that we probably just need to accept the conditions of surrender. just so we can save anymore bloodshed- i feel like i would be a bad leader if i didn't look for conditions of surrender.

tommy looks towards the ground, anger welling up inside of him. "i-"

"tommy i want you to come with me to meet with dream and talk with him." he says, tommy looks back up towards him, the man standing before him now teary-eyed. he nods, and with that the two boys set out with a following fundy - leaving l'manberg once again. 

—————

the masked man stood before them, sword and shield at his sides. he stared down tommy and wilbur as they walked towards him, hands up. 

"look, dream. i'm here to negotiate surrender." wilbur says, dream stood there with a cold glare. "i would say we fought well."

"i guess you could say that," dream says, the smile on his face could be heard through the way he talked. 

"we fought incredibly, dream." tommy replies angrily. 

"sure you did, but we just fought better." dream says grinning, and with this tommy was now officially set off. he leapt towards dream who still stood there still. wilbur had to hold him back as he shouted things at him - trying to get all of his anger out. 

dream stood there in shock as the boy shouted things about wanting to take him out, he liked dream; he thought he was a kind man. but after what he did to tubbo, what he did with the war, with his discs - he knew he had to go down. 

"tommy, calm." wilbur says, and tommy snaps back to reality, going limp in wilbur's restraint. 

tommy stood there dumbfound, looking at the faceless man, "dream, let's have a bow duel. 10 paces."

wilbur stood there with wide eyes at the boys exchange of words, "tommy-"

"a one, versus one... for l'manberg." tommy states, and wilbur steps over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

"tommy, your life is worth more than the revolution."

"wilbur, look around us!" tommy exclaims, "for the independence."

wilbur's eyes were filled with hurt and confusion, and after about a minute of silence he finally spoke up, "dream, this man does not speak for me. but, if this is something you and tommy are willing to do," he pauses, "then i will let it happen."

he looks over at tommy, who just nods back at him. 

dream stands there, his weapon still hanging at his side, "then it's settled. a fight for independence."

tommy gives the man a nod, who in reaction turns around and starts walking towards the open clearing from earlier in the day where battle began. fundy had already ran off to tell the others, and pretty soon the show would be happening. the fight for independence. 

all cards were displayed and on the table now, it was just a matter of what they did with the cards that counted. 

the field started to flood with people from l'manberg and bevurian - all there to watch the showdown. to see what would happen once and for all, to see if the newly-found country would live to see another day. 

"you've really got yourself in a mess now, tommy." wilbur says sadly. 

tommy looks up at him with a scared look in his eyes, "do i shoot him will or do i aim for the skies?"

"i want you to do whatever your heart says you should do."

tommy nods his head and starts to walk towards the middle of the crowd, bow in hand. dream comes out of the crowd from the other side, holding a matching bow. 

a man on the sidelines was set to count the paces and indicate when to turn around and fire, and with that dream and tommy stood back to back, awaiting the countdown. 

tommy's hands sweat, and his grip around the bow was tight. his mind wandered, thinking of all the different outcomes to this duel. 

he had beat him once before - and he planned to do it again. 

and the countdown had started. 

1...

tommy started to walk in the opposite direction of the man, clenching his bow in a ready position. 

2...

dream followed suit, and continued walking. 

3...

the two boys got farther and farther away from each other with every step. 

4...

he had a total of five arrows to use - but doubted they would use that many before one hit.

5...

taking one step with each number that the man had counted,

6...

they were now at 12 steps between them, two steps for each number. 

7...

tommy began sweating even more.

8...

but dream grinned under his mask and gripped his bow. 

9...

tommy took a deep breathe, closing his eyes for a moment before the final number,

10 paces, fire!

the two boys turned around, and their arrows bristled through the wind, and to no surprise the first two missed. 

tommy quickly got out his second arrow and fired, dream dodging it just in time so it didn't hit him. 

another arrow was sent flying tommy's way, but it was just barely out of the way. he could hear the whistle of it spin as it flew past him, and he could hear the crowd scream and dodge as the arrows flew in their direction, blocking the arrows with their shields. 

tommy fired another arrow, but with the shake of his hands it was off balanced. dream didn't even have to dodge this one, it would have been off anyways. 

but before tommy could comprehend what was happening, his gaze was taken off the arrow he had just horribly missed to an arrow coming right in his direction. his feet couldn't move fast enough, and in a matter of seconds his gut strung with pain. his eyes started to tear up as he looked down, and arrow was hanging out perfectly in the center of his stomach. 

tommy gasped in shock, a single tear running down his face. he could hear cheers and cries coming from the crowd, and before he knew what was happening he fell to the ground. 

it was dark outside now, and he looked up at the sky. he tried to focus on the stars as his vision blurred out of focus, he tried to focus on anything other than the searing pain in his stomach. his breathing was uneasy, and he choked on his tears as they fell down his face. 

a man came into view, and to no surprise it was wilbur, shaking his shoulders trying to speak to tommy; trying to keep him awake. 

wilbur watched as the boy laid there, unable to move a muscle, tears streaming down his face. he regretted agreeing to the terms. he blamed himself for letting tommy even think about doing this in the first place. he felt guilty for the scene unraveling before him - and he knew he was to blame for everything. 

but for tommy, he couldn't see the man. he couldn't see the people's reactions around him. all he could see was the stars leave his vision andthe world slip out of focus - everything turning black.


	7. wilbur

seven

wilbur sat with his legs crossed on the floor with phil and techno sitting in front of him. they were sitting on the couch and techno had his head in phil's lap. 

he was still learning but he had gotten a little bit better in the past months. they would make it a routine for wilbur to show them how much he's improved. 

he was wearing circle glasses and his hair was draped over his face, making it hard to see the guitar. but he started strumming and the instrument started to make quiet noises. 

"time is an illusion that helps things make sense," phil sang, running his fingers through techno's growing hair. the small boy smiling happily in his lap listening to the music. 

"so we're always living in the present tense. it seems unforgiving when a good thing ends." 

"but you and i well always be back then," wilbur sang hushed saying it with phil.

techno whispers joining them for the last line, "you and i will always be back then."

—————

ten

cold air and a slight breeze brushed through wilbur's hair as he sat up in his bed. the window was ever so slightly open, it was early morning now and the fragile sunlight hit the wooden floors of his room. 

wilbur was a smart, calm, collected ten year old. he lived a simple life, with his father, mother and twin brother. his house was small, money was sparse, and he didn't have many belongings, but he was thankful for what he had. he was a sweet kid at heart, but often shy when it came to talking to people. because of this, he found company in his brother - techno. 

the two of them were identical twins, and they did absolutely everything together. they were pretty much inseparable. 

techno stood slightly taller than wilbur, his hair was slightly longer, and he had a slightly buffer build. wilbur on the other hand was shorter than him, had fluffier hair, and lankier. but they both had the same brown hair, the same eyes, the same smile. if you didn't know them personally you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

wilbur swept the bed covers over himself and stood up on the cold floors. it creaked under his feet as he walked towards the door, attempting to be quiet enough to not wake up his brother. the door squeaked as he closed it behind him, walking to the living room. 

the house smelt of fresh pine, looking to see the front door was wide open. he walked over to it, looking out and seeing dad, phil, standing there on the porch. 

"phil?" wilbur asks softly, rubbing his eyes. the man looked over and smiled, walking over and patting his head. 

"hey will, did you sleep well?" he asked. phil taught him and techno from a young age to try and not refer to him as dad. he thought it would be more mature to refer to him as phil, and personally he liked it more. 

"yeah, but i'm hungry." the small boy groans, looking down at his growling stomach. phil just keeps his hand placed on his head and nods, leading him inside and to the kitchen. 

will sat down at the kitchen table, eyes heavy as phil opened up the pantry to start making food for the boys. 

"phil?" the small boy asked. 

"yes will?"

"where's mom?" the boy asks, resting his elbow on the table, propping his head up in his hand to look at the man. 

"she's just been busy, you know that."

"i know that, but i miss her a lot." will pouts, looking back down at the table. 

"i know you do, she'll be back soon. she's just on a buisness trip right now bud."

"okay," will says quietly, looking over to the hallway after hearing a small bang on the wall. phil's eyes jolt over and the twin boy appears from the hallway, practically tripping over his own feet as he walked. he was leaning up against the wall to stable himself, almost falling over from a lack of alertness. he had a blanket wrapped around his head that covered the sides of his face and draped all the way down to the floor, dragging slightly behind him. squinting slightly at the sudden burst of light on his face, he looked at the two boys in the kitchen. 

"good morning techno." phil says with a smile, averting his attention back to the food on the stove. the small boy just groans and sits abruptly next to his brother who was resting his head in his hands. 

they sat there in silence as phil just continues making the food, techno almost falling asleep on the table once or twice. 

phil places the food in front of the two and techno digs into it like a pig, eating it as fast as he could; wilbur chuckled at the boy stuffing food down his face. as soon as he finished his mood completely changed, and it seemed as if he just got more energy than everyone in the house combined. he wasn't drooling on the table anymore, but nearly bouncing off the walls. 

"wilbur?" techno asks pleading to the boy still eating his food. 

"yes?" 

"can we please go sparring today. you promised me you would." techno pouts, cocking his head to the side at his brother.

"i guess." wilbur sighs, placing another fork full of food in his mouth. techno now bouncing in his seat with glee side hugs him and shakes him around from side to side then runs back into their shared room. 

the day went by slow, and in no time techno was dragging wilbur and phil out of the house to the place where the two boys occasionally sparred. it was a small clearing in the woods, a dirt circle in the middle of tall trees with a water stream to their right. the two boys held wooden swords at their sides as phil trotted happily behind them taking in the scenery. 

"you ready?" techno asks, taking his stance at one end of the circle. wilbur nods in reply as phil sits down next to a tree on the outer edge, and the two boys go running at each other swords flying.

they practice for hours, wilbur's pants eventually getting so dirty from all the times techno knocked him on his butt. wilbur wasn't that good at combat, and he knew that, but he also knew it made techno incredibly happy whenever he agreed. so, every now and then he would let techno spar with him, even if it meant getting a little beaten up. 

the sun was going down now and the two boys were on their last match. techno was swinging his sword in his direction and wilbur came up to block it with his own. then in one steady swoop wilbur's legs were knocked out from under his and he landed hard on his back with the other boy laughing on top of him. 

wilbur just laughed back as his brother offered a hand to help him up. he patted the dirt on his now brown pants and shakes hands with him, signifying that their wielding was done.

the twins played tag on their way back to the house, occasionally using phil as a shield and running circles around him and he smiled and laughed at the their giddiness. 

they entered the house and to everyone's surprise a woman stood in the middle of the living room - phil's wife and mother of wilbur and techno. 

"mom!" they two boys exclaim, running up to her and hugging her, she embraces the two smiling back. 

"hi boys! would you mind giving phil and i a minute to talk?" she asks politely as the two of them nod in agreement going into their bedroom. 

"what are you doing here?" phil asks angrily. 

"i'm here to tell you that i'm leaving for good," she scoffs looking to the side. 

"oh so leaving without word wasn't good enough for you?" 

"sorry phil, but i just can't do it here anymore. you know i never wanted kids, let alone twins."

"what about me, huh? am i not good enough?"

"i've met someone else phil." she says, causing phil's heart to sink in his chest. 

"then leave." phil states angrily, his eyes piercing through her soul like daggers. 

"i'm sorry phil."

"no, you're not. say goodbye to the boys and leave my house."

the woman starts to walk down the hallway, and the sound of faint voices could be heard from the boys room, then her leaving and walking out the door with a bag. 

that being the last time either of them every saw their mother. 

—————

thirteen

"please, phil." wilbur begs, jumping up and down. phil only rolled his eyes, continuing to look forward while sitting on the couch with a small smile. 

"only if your brother wants to come to."

"he already said he didn't want to!" wilbur exclaims, pointing to techno who was now walking out of the hallway and into the kitchen. 

"i said what?" he asks, scratching the top of his head. the boy was a little more matured now, his brown hair was long enough to drape down to about shoulder length and he had rectangular glasses that sat on the tip of his nose. 

"that you didn't want to go see the lanterns tonight."

"oh yeah, i don't. it sounds lame," he responds laughing. 

"please. phil said he'd only go if both of us agreed," will pleads, "for me?"

the boy stood there in the kitchen for a minute thinking but then finally agreeing to it. his brother ran up to him squeezing him tight thanking him as techno only scrambled to get out of his affectionate grasp. 

later that night phil had taken the two boys to watch the lanterns in a nearby town. it was a monthly thing they liked to do and wilbur always dreamed of going to one of the showings after hearing about it. 

wilbur sat there in aw, looking at all of the lights dancing in the sky as techno just laid on the grass slightly annoyed and laughing at how mesmerized will was at everything. 

—————

fifteen 

"why?" wilbur asks angrily, "you can't just keep doing this." the boy slammed his hands down on the table, shaking the belongings on top of it and causing phil to gasp in shock. 

"i'm not doing anything, will." phil states back bringing his hands up in defense. 

"you can't just keep treating techno like your favorite son!" wilbur yells, "it's not fair!"

"i don't have a favorite son," phil says back, "you're being absolutely ridiculous right now."

"yes you do! you always agree to do things with him and never me! like i'm not good enough or something," wilbur says, "whenever i ask to do stuff you say no but the second he does you say yes. what's the deal with that?" 

"wilbur i-"

"no. i'm done! you always treat him like he's royalty and i'm like a peasant or something, what did i ever do?" wilbur asks, a single tear streaming down his face. 

"you never did anything will, it just seems like most of the time you don't even want to be here!"

"sorry that i'm depressed!" wilbur shouts, "you have no idea how i feel every day!"

"maybe i don't," phil admits pausing, "but it doesn't give you the right to act like this towards your brother and i."

"then i'll just leave!" will yells, running into the bedroom. techno and phil only standing there in shock looking at one another. wilbur's eyes pricked with tears as he threw clothes into a duffel bag as fast as he could, murmuring curses under his breathe. 

"will please-" techno says entering the room. 

"no, this is what you wanted right?" wilbur states cutting him off continuing to throw things in a bag, "i know you always wanted phil all to yourself. i'm sorry i have a shitty relationship with the both of you, so you can just have each other now."

"will that's not true! please!" techno yells out grabbing his wrist, the boy turns to his brother with red eyes and tears running down his face, "we love you please." techno says sincerely with his eyes starting to water. 

"no you don't. you never have." wilbur says as his heart drops to his stomach, his breathe leaving and the feeling of someone punching him in the gut fills its place. he rips his hand away from techno and zips up the bag, storming out of the room. 

"wilbur please," phil starts to plead running after his son who was now stood facing the door. "please stay."

"i'm sorry." wilbur says, opening the door and walking out of it, clenching the bag around his shoulder. he could hear the subtle shouts from behind him but he didn't dare look back. he couldn't tell if he was just being stubborn in the moment or if he was serious about this whole situation; but he did know one thing, he wasn't going to be living in that house for now. not for now.

—————

seventeen

the boy woke up with a pain in his head, he had been working the night shift earlier and had barely any sleep this entire weekend. life was hard right now, almost so hard he returned to the country-side to stay with phil and techno. but he refused, he hasn't talked to them in almost two years now, and he made up his mind he was better off without them. 

he turned over to see an empty bed, he had been living with his girlfriend for a little while now. he met her - sally, about a year ago and just bought there first house. it wasn't much, and they were still both only seventeen years old but they were happy. 

he got up out of the bed and walked into the kitchen, finding sally with her head in her hands. he walked over and placed a hand on her back, and she just looked up and gave him a small smile. 

she was a short girl with long wavy red hair. wilbur liked her a lot because they were similar in a lot of ways, he didn't like when he met people that were complete opposites of him - like his brother. 

she had always been one with nature wilbur had realized quickly into their relationship. she was good with animals, weather patterns, constellations, you name it, she would know everything about it. she reminded wilbur of the moon, she was ethereal, there was a slight glow around her at all times. she was wilbur's everything - a light of sorts. 

"hi." she says quietly. 

"hey, is something wrong?" wilbur asks. 

"yeah i- i don't know how to tell you," she mumbles. wilbur takes a seat next to her at the table, keeping a hand on her shoulder. 

"you can tell me anything." he says, and she looks up at him with a scared expression on her face. 

"i know," she pauses biting her lip, "i'm pregnant."

wilbur sits there in shock, loosening his grip on her shoulder, "are you sure?" she only nods her head with tears forming in her eyes. 

"i didn't know how to tell you," she says sadly. 

"it's okay, we'll get through it together okay?" wilbur says, placing both of his hands on the sides of her face to make her look at him. "how long have you known?"

"i'm about 3 months, i think." 

"well i'll be by your side the whole time." wilbur smiles, "it'll be okay. i promise."

they sat there hugging each other for a while, it seemed as if both of their worlds had completely come to a halt. they were going to be parents, and even if it was unexpected and very soon, they would make it work. no matter what. 

—————

nineteen

wilbur had been up all night taking care of fundy because sally was taking a night shift at her job. he was tired beyond belief, fundy had more energy then you would ever expect for a two year old. 

they were sitting at the kitchen table as fundy ate small pieces of fruit, wilbur just watching him with tired eyes and a small smile. 

he was scared he wouldn't be a good dad, or his child wouldn't like him, but it was the complete opposite. fundy seemed to love him, and he was glad. it definitely made things a lot easier. sally was usually good with kids, but this whole situation was so sudden to her and she was scared beyond belief. but wilbur made sure she knew he would always be there for her and the kid, it definitely took a weight off of her shoulders. 

every night had been like this for a while. wilbur would take care of fundy, the two would do crafts, eat snacks, and watch the stars at night, even if fundy didn't know what he was looking at. then sally would get home from work exhausted, and they would all fall asleep. wilbur would then leave for his job in the morning and come back around evening, just in time for sally to leave for her job. 

it was a lot, and both of them knew that. but a baby was expensive, and both of their jobs combined barely payed the expenses for all three of them, let alone a baby. 

but wilbur was fortunate nonetheless. 

—————

twenty 

wilbur woke up alone. the sun was shining down on wilbur's face, a bright light coming through the window lighting up the whole room. he groaned as he swiped out of bed and walked to the fundy's room. the door was creaked open and they were sound asleep in their bed, not a care in the world. wilbur smiled and walked to the kitchen, closing the door quietly behind him. 

he walked up to the counter, seeing a piece of paper left on it, and his heart sunk when he read just the first word. 

my dearest wilbur,

i'm so sorry it had to be like this. i wish i could tell you everything, the secrets i've been keeping from you. but i can't. 

i'm so sorry for leaving like this, without a proper goodbye, but i didn't have any other choice. 

i know you'll never understand, and i understand if you want to hate me for the rest of your life. but i hope some day you realize i would've never left without a good enough reason. 

there's things you don't know, wilbur. things about me i've never told anyone. 

i'm doing what i'm doing now for you and fundy, i want you two to live a good, happy, fulfilling life together. i would do anything for the two of you, which is why i'm doing what i'm doing now. 

i know what your future beholds, and i want you to know i will always be there through anything with you two. i'll be there when you need reassurance and hope most. if you think hard enough, you'll know. 

i love you both with all of my heart. 

i know you will both do amazing things. i can see it. and will, you're a good man - never forget that. no matter what.

—————

thirty

it's been 10 years since sally left and a little hike after wilbur finally learned how to move on from her. he found out her absence was holding him back from a lot, including watching his kid grow up in the way he always wanted. 

he fulfilled his dream and started a brewery, working every day to make his dreams come true to not only fulfill himself but bring in money for him and fundy. 

fundy was a clingy kid, never really wanted to be away from wilbur. they were too young to know what was going on when sally left, but wilbur often liked to tell them stories about her and what kind of person she was. he told fundy he didn't know why she left - and that was the truth. he still didn't know why she left or the reasoning but he decided to not let it hold him back. 

he promised to obtain the fatherly relationship he had always wanted so badly; he would do whatever he could for fundy. he took him to the brewery with him and taught him how to mop the floors which he enjoyed a lot - although wilbur never really knew why specifically. 

he also took fundy to go watch the lantern show in the town over, the town he always went to watch them in with phil and techno. it was nostalgic in a way to him, and he enjoyed spending that time with fundy. something he always wished phil and techno enjoyed just as much as him. 

he promised he would do whatever he could for him, put his own life before fundy's - prioritize him. he loved fundy more than anything else in the world.


	8. aftermath

tommy woke up cold on a stiff bed; his head felt like bricks, and the temples on his face hurt when he blinked. his eyes went wide with alert and fear as he shot up in the bed, but immediately winced back down with the pain in his stomach. his hands started to violently shake as he looked down to see the giant bandages wrapped around himself with light spots of red seeping through. he could barely move a muscle without a jolt of indescribable pain shooting up through his body. 

"tommy..?" he heard a small whimper to his right and slowly turned his head to look. he saw tubbo sitting there with a small smile on his face. he looked pretty beaten up, and by the looks of the dark eye bags he had, tommy could tell he hadn't gotten much sleep. he had his arm in a sling in front of his stomach, and his other hand was propping his head up on the arm rest of his chair. 

"tubbo?" tommy asked groggily, looking around the room. the small boy had tears pricking at the sides of his eyes and he abruptly got up and wrapped his free arm around the boy, who only sat there in shock and pain before attempting to wrap his arms around him. 

"i'm so glad you're okay," he says with a bright smile on his face. he pulls away after a few seconds and is met with a confused tommy. 

"where am i?" he looks around seeing the small bed he was on, it was a small room and tubbo was sat on a guest chair to his side. 

"in the hospital, you've been out for about a day." tubbo says concerned, "dream wanted to have a conversation with you when you woke up."

tommy sits up a little straighter on the bed as it freaks from under him, "then i'll go."

"tommy, you're still badly hurt. you can't-"

"tubbo, please." he pauses for a moment and replies with a small nod, looking to the floor. the small boy grabs him and helps him up, steadying himself on the floor. tubbos tosses him a shirt that he slowly puts over his head, hiding all of the blood and bandages on his stomach. he picks up his backpack from the ground and they start to walk out of the room. 

"we should probably tell wilbur," tubbo speaks, "he's gonna be worried if he finds out both of us are gone."

"no i," tommy pauses, "i need to go alone."

"tommy no! he just nearly killed you." he cries out, "please."

his friends expression was almost enough for him to change his ideas, but his mind was made up. he simply just put a hand on his uninjured shoulder gripping it slightly, then turning to walk the other way. he heard slight yells from his friend behind him, but he didn't dare to look back. 

l'manberg was in trouble, and because of tommy's loss in the battle, it would soon be gone forever. but tommy was a smart kid, selfless too. he would do anything for his friends, more specifically tubbo. he knew what he had to do now, even if it meant pain for him. 

he walked in silence down the path, limping as his stomach burned in pain. he regretting not bringing some sort of crutches with him to help him as he went, but he kept going. the only sounds that could be heard were the bristling of leaves in the trees from wind and the quiet songs of birds singing up above. tommy wanted to stop and stay there forever, without a care in the world; his entire life was a mess.

the field was now in view, and dream sat there alone on a log looking up at the stars. tommy continued walking towards him, and after hearing the sound of rocks being kicked dream looks down towards him, to see the young boy gripping his abdomen in pain as he walked. dream winced at the sight of the boy, he almost felt guilty. 

"dream," tommy states. 

"you put up a good fight, tommy."

"thank you, so did you."

"so, now we take l'manberg for ourselves." dream replies with a grin, tommy pauses for a moment to think. he was thinking of what options he had on his walk over here, and he knew he didn't have many. but he would try whatever he could, and this was the best way he knew how.

"dream, i have an ultimatum," tommy starts, "i'll do this for l'manberg."

"i'm listening."

"i'll give you both of my discs, if you allow us to have our independence," tommy says. dream pauses for a moment to think, a small grin appearing on his face. 

"that is very selfless of you, tommy. those are your discs." 

tommy pauses, and through a small choke he states, "for l'manberg. for wilbur, for tubbo, for fundy."

"y'know what tommy, i'll grant you technical independence," he pauses, "which would mean no war, but we still consider you apart of bevurian. we won't fight you, unless we have a very good reason. we will not go into your grounds unless we're allowed."

"so you'll respect us?"

"yeah, you can have your independence. for the discs of course."

tommy slowly takes his bag off his back and unzips it, looking at the two music discs inside. the small sound of running could be heard from behind him, but he didn't care to look. 

he took the two discs out of the bag, and with shaky hands and a small sigh of relief he extended his arm and dream took the discs. 

"good day, tommy." dream grins and walks the other way, disappearing as the surrounding of trees took him in. 

"tommy!" he bears a shout from behind him, he whips his head around to see wilbur standing there with wide eyes and a confused facial expression. tubbo and fundy were standing behind him confused, he assumed tubbo must have ran to get them as soon as he left.

"what did you do?" wilbur asks frightened, "why wouldn't you tell us you were leaving?"

tommy takes a small pause, exhaling slightly with tears threatening to escape his eyes, "i've secured our independence."

"you what? how? what did you do?"

"i gave him the discs will," tommy sighs. 

"you gave up your discs?" wilbur asks confused while running a hand through his hair. 

"yeah," tommy mumbles, placing a hand over his eyes and looking to the ground with a small smile. 

"my right hand man tommy! you're a good man." 

tommy smiles at the words, and takes a step towards them. tubbo already running to his side and engulfing him in a hug. all the taller boy could do was wrap his arms around him and hug him back, tears pricking at his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. 

"you've given us freedom, tommy." wilbur states, and the boy smiles. he felt his friends' needs were so much greater than his own, it was a small price to pay for happiness and liberty. 

—————

as we gaze upon the swaths of redwood trees. the great hills to our south and the walls that have protected us, 

i, wilbur soot, as the now president of l'manberg hereby state the freedom and independence of our great nation.

—————

it's been a week since the war and everything was finally starting to calm down. houses were being rebuilt because of fire spreading and damages caused by dream and his gang, the walls were being rebuilt and expanded, and everyone was getting on with their life. tommy and tubbo had permanently moved into l'manberg and sold their houses in the square of bevurian; they were neighbors now. tommy's house wasn't much, but it was big enough for himself. it was all he really needed. 

he was leaning on the rails of tubbo's balcony as he watched all of the people scurry around in the town, laughing as saw a women chasing after one of her chickens. tubbo appeared from behind him, gently placing a hand on his back and smiling. 

"i'm proud of us." tubbo smiles gently, and takes a leaning spot next to tommy, all the boy can do is nod his head and continue staring forward. 

the silence between them was heavy, but wasn't awkward at all. they enjoyed being there together; even though they had only known each other a few months no, it had felt like a lifetime to both of them. they couldn't even imagine their lives without the other. 

"hey tommy?" tubbo asks, breaking the silence. 

"yeah?" tommy asks, turning his head to face his friend. 

"i know you never really told me, and it's okay if you don't want to answer," he enables, "but why were those discs so important to you? and why are you here? i never really knew."

the blonde boy paused, his heart dropping in his stomach as he relived all the events that had happened in the past 8 months. 

"my village, it was burnt to the ground," tommy chokes on his breath, "all my friends and family were killed with it."

"tommy i'm so sorry," tubbo says, looking at him, "you don't have to tell me this if you don't want to."

"no i- i want to. it's just difficult," he sighs, running a hand through his hair and collecting himself. "it was some tyrant. he came through our village and burnt it all. my dad told me to run and never look back, and so i did. i can only imagine they're all dead now."

"well you don't know that-"

"tubbo, they're dead. i know they are." tommy says cutting him off, "it was the most horrifying thing i've ever gone through in my life; and the discs were my mothers."

"your mothers?"

"mhm. she would play them for me every night when i was still there, they were the only thing i had left of her," tommy admits, laughing his head at the memories and dropping his head in defeat. 

"i'm sorry," tubbo says sadly. 

"it's okay. i've learned to live with it now," tommy speaks, "but now i have you, and fundy, and wilbur. i'm really happy i met you guys."

"i'm happy you met us too," tubbo smiles, embracing him for a hug. tommy wasn't a very affectionate guy, but with tubbo it was hard to resist. they were complete opposites in a way, tubbo was very affectionate, very good with expressing emotions and was a very soft guy. tommy oh the other hand was not soft at all, he hid a lot of his emotions behind a mask and wasn't good at expressing them. 

but when the two of them were together, they allowed each other to let their weaknesses guide them. tommy was thankful for that. 

as long as they were together, nothing bad could happen. 

—————

dream sat on top of the hill, gazing upon the sunset with george at his side. they were at the tallest hill in the northern forest, george suggested they go on a picnic, because after everything that was happening the two really needed it. dream had been stressed recently, and george didn't seem to know how to help. 

they were sitting down next to each other, staring up at the sky. a small breeze running past them and through their hair; the golden light hitting the land and making it look incredible. 

he never felt the need to wear his mask around george, because he made sure dream knew time and time again he didn't care what he looked like under it. dream found this oddly comforting, and ever since then he's never worn it around george. he felt safe around him, even though george didn't do much fighting, george himself was enough for dream to feel secure.

"george," dream starts. 

"hmm?" george hums, looking towards him and propping himself up on his elbow. 

"everything the light touches, is our kingdom."

"our kingdom?" george mimicked, and dream just laughs slightly nodding his head. 

"a kings time as a ruler rises and falls like the sun," he says, looking back towards the darkening sky, "one day george, the sun will set, and my time here will rise with you, as the new king." 

"you're such an idiot dream," he giggles. "me? king?" dream just nods his head with a smile and george laughs, trying to brush off the topic. 

"i mean it. i think you'd make a wonderful king," dream says and george can only grin at the thought. 

"thanks dream," he smiles. 

the two boys sat there until the sun set under the horizon, talking about whatever their hearts desired until they eventually fell asleep under the stars.


	9. the election

it had been about 6 months since the war and things in l'manberg were pretty good recently. everyone was finally getting on with their lives. the walls were being rebuilt, houses were being made for new people moving in, shops were set up in town, everything was looking up. 

after some time of thinking wilbur had decided l'manberg would have democratic election. wilbur had become the president of l'manberg before knowing it would gain as much attention as it did. but as time went on wilbur knew in his heart he couldn't continue being president after electing himself. he knew the people would have to be the ones to decide, and so that's what they would do. 

with wilbur as president, tommy, tubbo and fundy had been helping him out a lot too. at that moment they all pretty much ran the important things of l'manberg from the insides. 

wilbur was extremely busy, he was working out all of the stuff for the election. running errands such as making ballot designs and a small poll office. he was also partially in charge of making the election area, where the people running for office could make speeches and the people of l'manberg could watch. he also had the pressure of picking a vice presidential nominee to run with him - which he hadn't done yet. 

many people had come forward for the job, but a lot were just getting lost in the crowd. no one in particular stood out but wilbur. everyone was sure he would just win and bear the presidency another day. he had created a party named after himself - the sooten party.

back in bevurian, things were starting to settle down as well. little after the battle of l'manberg king eret had passed away in his sleep due to his undiagnosed health conditions. 

this meant prince eret was now the king. at the young age of 22 he was sentenced to ruling an entire kingdom. to say it was stressful on him was an understatement; he could barely even focus on himself and his worries. he often thought about how difficult it must have been on his father, ruling for so long on his own; eret didn't know how he would do it without help. 

but as time went on he settled in to the position and got to truly understand himself, and what he wanted as a ruler. he saw that bevurian wasn't in the best place. their trading partners had left because of a bad crop season, the shops weren't doing well, they had used tons of money on things around the kingdom but lost a lot in return, everywhere in the kingdom was severely understaffed. with the revival of l'manberg a lot of people had left bevurian, and maybe now eret knew why.

tommy had his small house in l'manberg and had another one built off the southern shore overlooking the sea. he spent a lot of time over there, he secretly always enjoyed time by himself; it often gave him a place to think about things in peace. 

he was living a simple life, he stayed at his house during most of the week and would go down to l'manberg if he was needed. he had even gotten himself a pet - a cow named henry. he usually wasn't the best with animals, but when he saw him he just couldn't resist. he spent most of his time sitting in the field outside his house with henry, watching the scenery and the waves crash against the shore. 

he still felt incomplete without his discs, but he had learned to manage the time being without them. tubbo being the boy that he is, got tommy a new disc about a month after the war. tubbo knew it would never replicate his mother's but he still wanted to do it, to show that he cared. tommy liked the gesture, and ever since that day he would listen to it with tubbo and watch the sunset, talking for hours until he had to leave back to l'manberg.

they had gotten a lot closer in the past months, talking and hanging out everyday. he still didn't know much about tubbos past, he didn't like to talk about it really. but tommy was okay with that, he completely understood him, and when he was ready to talk about it, he would.

"tommy!" the boy heard a shout from behind him, whipping his head around he could see tubbo smiling at him as he walked. tommy smiled back and waved. they were in the heart of l'manberg now, watching the busy place as people ran around getting ready for the election. it would be held in two weeks time, and as of right now wilbur was the only real candidate. 

"did you hear the news?" tubbo asks and tommy shook his head no, "there's a new batch of candidates for the election!"

"who are they?" 

"not really sure, but that old friend of yours, george, he's their running mate." tubbo says, and tommy's eyes go wide with confusion and shock. 

"but, why?"

"i'm not sure, maybe you could ask them. i'm pretty sure they're in town today." he says shrugging his shoulders. "wilbur will be fine though, there's no way they'll win."

"right," tommy says, tubbo now leading him to where he last heard the two new candidates were. 

that's when tommy caught sight of the two, george and another young man he had never seen before. they were talking to a crowd of people, all laughing. it wasn't a good sign. 

"george." tommy states, and the two men turn their heads towards him. 

"tommy, hey." george says back, taking a step towards them. 

"why are you running?" tommy asks confused, and he just stands there and grins. 

"don't know, thought i'd be pretty good at it; and my friend quackity here asked me to run with him," george smiles, gesturing to the man standing to his right. "quackity this is tommy, tommy quackity."

"nice to meet you tommy," the man says. 

"listen, you guys won't win. so you may as well not even try." tommy scoffed, looking to the side. 

the two guys just stood there with a smirk on their faces and shrugged, walking away and back into the crowd of people. 

—————

wilbur stood in the cabinet room with tommy sat in front of him. he invited him there for a reason, but he was still skeptical; he was worried he wouldn't take it seriously enough.

"wilbur?" tommy asked worried, wilbur just sat there lost in thought. 

he cleared his throat, "sorry, just thinking. i've been meaning to talk to you tommy."

"about what?"

"i've been thinking about this a lot, and i don't trust anyone enough with this than you," wilbur started. "i know that you're young for the job, but that doesn't matter here in l'manberg." wilbur rambled. 

"yeah? what is it?" he asked, putting his head to the side in confusion. 

"i want you to be my running mate, tommy." wilbur stated, and the boy just sat there in shock. 

"me? a vice president?" tommy asked pointing to himself, wilbur shook his head in agreement. 

"you helped me start this place, and i wouldn't want anyone else to do the job tommy. i trust you."

"i'm honored wilbur, but in all seriousness, what if i can't do it?"

"i think you can, tommy." wilbur states, "you're a smart kid when you want to be."

"when i want to be," tommy laughs. the two of them sit there in thought. tommy thinking about all the possible outcomes for himself. 

"so?" wilbur asks breaking the silence. 

the boy pauses before he speaks, looking up to the ceiling and then pack at him, a small smile on his face, "yeah. i will."

—————

everyone sat in the crowd of people, all the leading parties stood at the front stage. it was debating day, the one day before the election they would answer all questions so l'manberg could know how everyone's minds were. what they wanted to vote for. 

tommy and wilbur stood at the front of the stage in suits, george and quackity to their right and another leading party to their left. 

they were both nervous, but excited. the questions started to buzz through the air with the three leading parties answering them with ease. tommy watched the people's reactions to every answer, trying to see how the majority would think. 

he spotted tubbo in the crowd and made eye contact with the small boy, who responded with a smile and a thumbs up. tommy looked as the words you're doing great were mouthed and he smiled back, trying to keep his best composure in front of everyone. 

in no time the debates were over and everyone started to file out of the crowd, leaving only a few people and the candidates on the stage. tommy and wilbur went over to the other candidates to shake hands, then left down the stage towards everyone else. 

tubbo stood there with two thumbs up and a smile, fundy standing right next to him clapping in a sarcastic manner which gained him a light punch from tommy. 

they all headed back to their houses - tommy was staying in l'manberg for now. with everything from the election it was just too much to take the trek multiple times every day from his house to l'manberg. 

tubbo skipped down the path as music played on the overhead speakers, the tunes flooding through the town square; he often tried to get tommy to join him, but he never complied and only ever laughed at him from a short way behind. 

—————

it was 2 days until the election and the running members running were all sat at a round table, about to get ready to speak to each other. 

tommy adjusted his tie as he sat there a little worried. he didn't like being the youngest one there, everyone else felt intimidating to him. 

"so," quackity starts to speak, "i have a proposition i would like to make." 

wilbur sat there confused, but gave him the right away to continue speaking. 

"an old friend of mine is coming to l'manberg; and frankly, he's a much better businessman than me and my friend george here," he says eying george from the side. "so, saying that, i would like to give up my running position to him and endorse his campaign."

wilbur sat there confused, he didn't know what to do in this kind of situation. he had never dealt with anything like this before, there were no rules that said you could or couldn't. 

but what could go wrong? it was just swapping one candidate out for another, and so late notice it would probably be best for wilbur. 

"well, i suppose you could," wilbur starts, "i mean there are no specific rules saying you can't do that."

"perfect." quackity says back, "he'll be here tonight, so tomorrow he's going to make a public speech with me at his side."

"and if he wins," wilbur says hesitantly, "will you be his vp?"

"yes. that would be correct." quackity responds, adjusting his posture in the chair. 

"well then, we'll allow it." wilbur says ending the topic. they continue to talk about other things regarding the election, how the ballots will be counted, where everyone will be located and just everything about what will happen in two days time. 

wilbur left that night feeling confident and refreshed. there was no way any of the people in there would take away his nation from him, just as it was getting started. 

—————

"will?" he hears, turning around and seeing the young girl standing behind him. niki. 

over the past 6 months wilbur and niki have gotten rather close. they didn't really know each other before the war; wilbur only knew of her as the girl that made the uniforms. but now, they were almost inseparable and they both cared about each other a lot. 

she was a 28 year old lady, short and petite. with shorter black hair and two blonde strands displayed in the front. caring, determined, and dedicated could be words used to describe her. but even though she acted soft she could play dirty if she wanted to. 

"hi niki, what's up?" he asks, scooting over on the bench to make room for her. she walks closer to him and takes a seat, sitting quietly for a moment. 

"i just wanted to say i'm really proud of you." she says with a light smile, "with the whole election stuff and all. i know you've been really dedicated to it."

wilbur looks up at the night sky with a smile and small blush on his face, "thanks niki."

"i'm with you the whole way, never forget that." niki says, leaning her head on wilbur's shoulder. 

"i know you are."

they sat there forever in silence watching the stars, as the faint music played over the loud speakers.


	10. the end of a nation

one day until the election. 

tommy woke up in a cold sweat, a nightmare. he pictures the faces of his burning village, the screaming pierced through his ears and tears formed in the corners of his eyes. his hands began to shake and he gripped the bedsheets to try and stop them, calming his breathing. 

"run! go!" he remembered his dad shouting. he could practically feel the wind flowing through his hair, the stinging on his face and legs from the knife slashes. but he ran anyways, he left everyone. 

he's been having this reoccurring dream every since it happened. he couldn't do anything to stop it, he tried everything he could. but he couldn't get the images and memories out of his head, no matter how hard he tried. he felt like a coward every time he thought of it. 

he climbed out of bed and got dressed, he was heading in to town today to listen to the new candidates speech - the one that would be replacing quackity. 

he didn't know what to think of it, if anything he thought it was probably for the best. if anything it was just making unsure quackity voters not want to vote at all. although that was not the best option in general, it was the best option for him and wilbur. 

he walked out of his front door, closing it slowly behind him and started walking down the sidewalk towards the area where they all gave their speeches the other day. 

he finally arrived at the speech area and saw a crowd of people, and towards the back closer to the stores was tubbo. he sat on top of a large pile of crates, giving himself a nice view of everything. tommy made his way over and sat next to his friend who smiled back at him. 

quackity stood at the top of the stage looking down at the crowd with george stood at his side. he had a small smile on his face and he tapped the microphone, signaling he was ready to start speaking. 

"good morning everyone," quackity starts and claps and small cheers could be made from the crowd. "i have some important news for all of you." he pauses, "i am stepping down as a candidate for this election."

the crowd erupts into whispers and then yelling at the man, who only stood there calmly and waited for the most of it to subside. 

"instead, a friend of mine will be taking his place. i will be enforcing his campaign fully, and if you would have voted for me i expect you to vote for him." quackity says and the crowd starts whispering to each other. 

"with that being said i would like to introduce you to your new candidate, schlatt." quackity says, stepping to the side as a man appears from the back room. 

he was tall and intimidating. he had a small black beard and medium length black hair that was slicked to the back of his head. his eyes could almost pierce right through you, but the strangest thing about him wasn't that. it was the horns on his head. tommy had heard of hybrids before, but he had never seen any others than fundy. they almost looked like ram horns, and they curled backwards. they made him look even more fearing than he already was. 

the crowd erupted in to whispers as he walked up to the microphone, adjusting his tie as he went. he tapped the mic and everyone went silent. 

"hello, everyone." he spoke, his voice was deep, almost raspy in a way. 

"as you've already heard i'm schlatt." he speaks, "i'll be running for your presidential election."

"he's scary." tubbo says tapping tommy's shoulders, and all the blonde boy could do was nod in agreement. 

schlatt went on to tell the people all of his ideas, which only barely differed from quackity's. but what scared tommy the most is that the audience seemed to be intrigued. they all listened to him with open ears and wide eyes. 

but when he was finally done people went back to town or their houses to secure their ballots to turn in tonight or go to the polling stations later that evening. 

—————

it was finally election day and the town was even busier than weeks before. people were running around to get good seats for the announcement and getting food in the shops for dinners that would be held later. 

the l'manberg flag was displayed all over the nation, hanging from street lamps and the large one flowing on the wind, a slight breeze going overhead; tommy smiled lightly at the sight.

wilbur was up early, going around town and doing last minute things for the ceremony, making sure all of the ballots were being properly counted, helping people in their shops. but they had made plans right before everything, to hang out one last time before things would change for good in l'manberg; with wilbur as president and tommy as vice. 

people started voting last night and this morning, and by the time of the announcement they would all be counted and ready for the ceremony.

tommy had two hours until the announcement would be made, so he decided he would spend it doing what he loved most in l'manberg - spending time with tubbo and wilbur. 

they all made their way to tubbo's house as he closed the door slowly behind him. he had a worried look on his face and tommy didn't like the look of it. 

"what's wrong?"

"i know that everything is going to be fine today," he starts, "but i just want to make sure everything will go fine."

"everything will be fine, tubbo." tommy says, putting a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. 

"yeah so, i made a few things. for, just in case if you need them." he says, making his way over to a chest behind his counter and pulling out two potions. 

"what are those?" wilbur asks confused. 

"invisibility potions." tubbo says, "i know you probably won't need them or anything. it's all going to be fine, but i like being prepared for the worse case scenario."

tommy and wilbur smiled at the small boy who just stood there looking at the ground, both potions in hand. he extended his arms and they took the small bottles and placed them in the inner pockets of their suits. 

"there's one more thing." tubbo says digging his hand into his pocket. he pulls out three small pieces of plastic. "they're microphones so we can all talk to each other. i thought they'd be nice to have anyways, just to always have them on in case we need each other quick." he smiles placing the ear pieces in their hands. 

"you've really just planned everything for us, huh?" wilbur asks with a smile ruffling the top of his head as the boy chuckles. 

he explained how they worked, there were three buttons on the ear piece, and all three connected to each other. if tommy were to use it, one button would be to talk to tubbo, one button would be to talk to wilbur, and one button would be to keep it on at all times so both of them could hear him. 

they spent the rest of their time sitting in tubbo's living room, waiting for their time to leave to the announcement. but when it was finally time they left the house and made their way down. they all wore brand new black suits and leather shoes. tommy didn't like wearing things so fancy, but wilbur insisted and said that he had to. 

they were almost to the area when tubbo grabbed on to tommy's shoulder, making his abruptly stop in his tracks as wilbur kept walking before them. 

tommy looked at the boy confused, "yeah?"

tubbo looked up at him with a smile, quietly saying, "i just wanted to say i'm really proud of you." he says, "and happy with how far you've come."

tommy looked at the boy with a shocked expression, his mouth twitching up into a smile as he miracles his friend in a hug and patted his back. 

"thank you, tubbo."

once they got there they left tubbo to go towards the audience as they made their way up to the stage and took their seats side by side. to their left was quackity and schlatt, and to their right was a man named burice and a girl named ally. tommy had felt kind of bad because their names weren't picked up much in the election, but that's how things had to be in order for them to win. 

wilbur and tommy sat there for a while talking, watching as the audience members flowed in under them; making every seat down below full. they also tested out the ear pieces, turning on and off the buttons to talk to each other which ended up working perfectly. 

that's when the announcer came up onto the stage and everyone in the audience seemed to immediately go quiet. they set their papers on the podium and cleared their throat, then tapped the microphone and began to speak. 

"welcome everyone. thank you for coming here today, to watch, a historic moment. the passing over of the presidency for the first election of l'manberg."

the audience erupts into cheers and claps as the announcer waits for them to calm down and speaks again.

"i have with me the election results for the three parties, the soot party, schlatt party and burice party. i have with me in my possession the winners and by what percentage."

they clear their vote, and begin to announce the percentages, "with 9% of the popular vote, in third place we have the burice party."

a few people in the crowd seem to get flustered, but not many reactions as to seeing not many people vote for them in the first place. 

"this leaves the two major front-runners as the final option." they pause, "in second place, with 45% of the popular vote."

he pauses, drawing the anticipation. no one would have expected the percentages to be this close, by a 1% difference. tommy starts to sweat as he sits there starting to get light headed.

"is," he pauses, "the soot party."

wilbur and tommy's faces immediately drop, their mouths left wide open as they stare at the announcer with wide eyes. 

"this meaning, with 46% of the votes, the schlatt party has won this election!" he announces, and nearly half the crowd starts to applause, some just sitting there with as shocked faces as the two confused boys on stage. 

"this means that tonight, ladies and gentlemen, schlatt and quackity have been inaugurated into the presidential spots of l'manberg!"

wilbur sits there, his brain practically swimming in his head, his eyes going dry with how wide they were held open; his mouth was dropped agape. 

"mr. schlatt, please, step up to the podium and deliver your inauguration speech."

wilbur and tommy sit there, feelings heavy weights on their shoulders, almost forcing them to sit down. that's when two guards come up behind them and escort them to the side of the stage. 

tommy stands there in place before stepping off stage; he was in so much shock he could barely even move. 

schlatt walks up to him, giving him a death glare, and begins the first interaction they had ever had. "tommy, get off my stage." he says fiercely, and it was enough to make tommy stumble back in fear and follow wilbur down to the crowd. 

the crowd erupts in cheers as wilbur and tommy take their standing spots towards the very back of the crowd. 

schlatt taps the microphone and everyone's talking subdues, "well," he starts, "that was pretty easy."

the crowd starts laughing and schlatt just stands there with a smirk on his face. 

"yesterday i announced, things are gonna change around here. i looked every citizen of l'manberg in the eyes and i said, 'you listen to me, this place will be a lot different tomorrow.' so, let's start making it happen." he smirks and the statement caused the citizens to erupt in to claps again. 

"my first decree," he starts fiercely, "as the president of l'manberg. the emporer of this great nation."

tommy looks over at wilbur who is only stood there with wide eyes and shaking hands, "wilbur- wilbur surely not-"

"is to revoke, the citizenship, of wilbur soot, and tommy simons!"

"no!" shouts could be made from the crowd as wilbur and tommy just stood there dumbfounded. 

"get them out of here!" schlatt yells and in seconds time bows were being pointed at the two. 

wilbur grips on to tommy's suit jacket, "tommy, run!" he yells, and they run. they turned around and sprinted out of the area with arrows being fired at them as they went. 

they then the corner and continue sprinting towards the walls that lead to the woods outside l'manberg. 

"wilbur, drink!" tommy yells, gesturing to the potions that were inside their jacket pockets. they quickly took the capsules and grabbed onto each other's arms, making sure to hold onto each other to know where they were. 

that's when tommy hears the squeaks of radio coming from his ear, and he gets the message that tubbo just turned on his microphone. 

"until further notice," tommy could hear schlatt's voice through his ears, "wilbur and tommy are nearly a memory of l'manberg. a relic of the past. a reminder of the darkest era this country has ever seen. and i guarantee you all, dear citizens, that changes. we are entering in to a new period of l'manberg. a period of prosperity, of strength, of unity." 

squeaky cheers could be heard through the microphone and it made tommy physically wince in pain. 

"tubbo, where's tubbo?" tommy could hear, and his blood ran cold. a pause could be heard through the plastic piece in his ear and chills were sent down his spine. 

"i'm right here," the small voice of the boy could be made from the other side. 

"tubbo get up here, get up here on my podium." tommy could hear the distant voice of schlatt in the background. 

a silent pause could be heard, and then a quiet, "i'm on my way."

tommy reaches up to his ear piece and turns it on, "tubbo?" he squeaks. 

"tubbo, get up here!" schlatt's voice was louder now, meaning that the two of them were close together. 

"tubbo?" tommy squeaks again, but no response. 

schlatt's laughs could be heard, "i love this guy!"

the crowd could be heard clapping and tommy and wilbur continued to run towards the hill outside l'manberg. 

"as my secretary of state, as my right hand man of l'manberg." schlatt states and tommy's heart drops, "i need you to do something for me tubbo."

"what, mr. president?" tubbos small voice could be heard. 

"tubbo-" tommy starts. 

"i need you to find tommy," schlatt says."

"what-"

"and i need you, to show him the door."

tommy and wilbur stand there shocked, now at the top of the mountain that overlooks l'manberg. the crowd of all the people watching the people up at the podium. among them all tubbo stood small and shaky in front of schlatt, who towered over him. he looked like he could push him to the ground and stomp on his at any moment. 

"wilbur, we have to go." tommy says grabbing his arm, there invisibility now wearing off and being able to see the faint outlines of their bodies. 

"tommy," tubbo says from the other side hastily, "tommy i'm gonna need you to come with me, man."

"tubbo, no! tubbo no!" tommy exclaims, turning off his microphone as him and wilbur ran the other way.


	11. pogtopia

as soon as wilbur and tommy ran the nation erupted into immediate chaos for the people of l'manberg. for some, they were captured immediately for questioning or detained for later use. 

for tubbo it was immediately, after the speech schlatt's workers grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him off stage. they took him to some house where they said he'd be kept for questioning over night. 

they asked him questions about where tommy and wilbur may have ran, if they had any family outside of l'manberg, if they had any place in l'manberg they could be hiding if they never really left. 

tubbo answered with the truth, only because he was scared of what would happen if he lied. he told him that he had no idea where they would have went, that they had lived in bevurian before l'manberg and really had no where else. they didn't have any other secret place to hide in l'manberg. he also told schlatt tommy was an orphan, and fundy was the only family he knew wilbur had; after saying that they immediately detained fundy. 

fundy was dragged to a house near the walls almost by force. he was still crying from the earlier events, his eyes were red and he was in obvious pain and sadness overfilled his entire body. 

fundy sat at a small wooden table in the middle of a room, a fireplace to his left. it was dark outside now and the small lanterns over the table were the only light besides the fire that made the room glow. 

schlatt walked in to the room about a half an hour later and fundy immediately tensed up, trying to get away from the man but two steady arms were placed on his shoulders. 

"you must be fundy." the man says with an intimidating voice. 

"what is it to you," fundy spits out in pain. 

"i hear you're wilbur's son, would i be correct?"

fundy paused for a moment before nodding his head in agreement to the question. 

"it's nice to meet you, i know you must be in a lot of shock right now."

"you banished my father from the nation he started."

"he was no good for this country, and you should know that too." he said, and the words blared through fundy's mind like rocks. 

"how would you possibly know that. he was a good man. he cared about people!" he yelled, "he cared about me!"

"did he?" schlatt asks and fundy sinks in his seat, "he left you just now, did he not?"

"you banished him!"

"he left, and didn't take you wish him. he didn't want you there, fundy."

"he couldn't take me, he didn't have time."

"he didn't want you to go with him, he doesn't care about you, fundy! if you were to have gone he would have sent you right back."

"it would have been for my own safety." fundy says crossing his arms and looking to the side. 

"fundy you're not understanding, he's not going to come back for you!"

the words sent chills down fundy's spine, "you- you don't know that."

"i do, fundy." schlatt's words were calmer now. "he's not coming back. you need to let him go."

"no, no i won't!"

"you'll only get hurt chasing after someone who doesn't care enough to come back for you."

"he does care about me, he always has!"

"oh yeah?" schlatt asks, "then let him prove it. let him come back and get you, fundy. let him prove himself to you, that he cares enough to bring you with him."

"he will! i know he will!" fundy exclaims as schlatt stands up from his seat and walks towards the door. 

"goodnight, fundy."

—————

tommy and wilbur kept running, they didn't stop once. they iran the opposite direction of l'manberg and they had barely spoken a word to each other since they left. they just ran. 

wilbur comes to a halt in front of him, placing his hands on his knees trying to retain breath. tommy placed his hands on the tops of his head and looks up at the sky. 

"wilbur," tommy starts saddened, "that's our nation! i gave up my discs for that nation!"

wilbur looks at him with widened eyes and a scared expression, "tommy, we are unwelcome in l'manberg and all of bevurian. we are literally in the wilderness now. we gave up everything for l'manberg. everything we have earned in that sacrifice has been lost in a single moment."

tommy looks at him with a scared expression and they keep walking until they find a small cave surrounded by trees. they pull back the ivy dangling from it and walk in, the coldness of the air immediately surrounding their bodies. 

the sun was now set and both of them sat on the floors of the cave, looking through the ivy at the night sky. before either of them knew it they were sound asleep. 

they woke up in the morning confused, their backs and limps aching in pain, their clothes torn and suits tossed to the side. tommy was thankful for the fact he convinced wilbur to let them both wear their normal clothes under them. he thought it would be better for them to change back right after they won and went to the after party, but things change quick here. 

"look," tommy speaks up, "we can't turn on each other, we've lost everyone. you're- your son, your niki!"

wilbur sits down on the cave walls with his head in his hands. tommy let's him sit there for a minute before the static from their ear pieces make them look back at one another. 

"people of l'manberg!" they could hear schlatt's booming voice now. the sun rises on another chapter in our countries history. another page of the textbook that children will be reading til the end of time. i reckon our nation needs to expand!"

tommy and wilbur look at each other confused. 

"i reckon we've done our country a great disservice. i reckon," he pauses, "we take down the walls."

gasps could be heard from their ear pieces and they looked at each other with angered faces and stiffened limbs. 

"i'm launching a public works project! all citizens of l'manberg, are required to help tear down the walls of this country." he says, "thus ends the second presidential speech."

wilbur and tommy continue to sit there on the cold stone floor, a cold breeze from outside coming into the cave. 

wilbur starts to sit up from his place on the floor, "i have to go and watch."

and with that the two boys set out, wilbur walking a few paces in front of tommy as he looked around at all of the scenery trying to memorize the terrain. 

they climbed to the top of a mountain in the southern woods and the sight before them sent chills down their spines. 

"look away, wilbur." tommy says saddened. 

"i have to." he says, as the look at the sight of all the people of l'manberg tearing down the walls. almost nothing remained. 

the sight that scared wilbur the most was when he looked to the right to see a small red haired boy at the front of the walls, helping take them down brick by brick. 

tears formed in his eyes, "my son is taking down the walls right in front of me! the walls i built to keep him safe!" wilbur exclaims, wiping the tears from his eyes, trying to force himself not to let them fall. "i promised him i could give him a life worth living."

"wilbur i'm so sorry." tommy mutters, placing a hand on his shoulder as wilbur fell down to the ground on his knees. 

"l'manberg my unfinished symphony!" wilbur exclaims, placing his face in his hands. 

tommy's mouth was set in a straight line, trying to keep himself composed in front of wilbur. but it didn't change the fact tears formed at the sides of his eyes and stung to the point he almost let them fall. 

"i cant watch it anymore." wilbur mumbles after minutes of sitting on the ground in pain. tommy only nods and helps wilbur stand up, "are you coming with me?"

"no, i'll find my way back." tommy says, "i'm going to stay out a while longer. stay on the line though, okay?" tommy asks pointing to the ear piece and wilbur nods in agreement and starts to walk away back into the forrest towards the cave. 

tommy stayed there for what seemed like hours, watching as they tore down the walls in front of his eyes. the breeze flowed through his long hair and chilled his skin where his clothes had ripped. he had cuts on his hands from falling and bruises all over his body that he didn't know where he got. 

he just sat and watched, trying to take in the last bit of l'manberg he could get before he was to head home. 

"tommy?" he hears through the microphone as wilbur began to speak. 

"yeah, will?" 

"i just wanted to say i'm sorry. this would have never happened to you if i didn't ask you to be my vp."

"wilbur it's okay, we're in this together now."

"i don't trust anyone but you tommy." he says and the call goes silent for a moment. "i know you trust him tommy." he starts, and tommy immediately knows who he's aiming the conversation towards. 

"i can tell cause he's- he's your tubbo!" wilbur exclaims and tommy stays silent, "tommy?" he asks worried. 

"i know," tommy says sadly as he pauses, "i'm coming back."

"okay, be safe." wilbur says and he can hear the static from the other side end as wilbur subsides his talking. tommy stands up and takes one last look at l'manberg, the crumbled walls displayed on the floor everywhere, the lights from the lanterns in town making it glow orange in the darkness and the faint music in the background playing. 

we'll meet again. 

don't know where, don't know when. 

but i know we'll meet again, some sunny day. 

—————

tommy made his way home through the darkness, nothing but the moonlight and stars to show him the way. 

the silence of nothing but leaves in the wind came to a halt when he heard twigs snapping and the wind suddenly die down. he snapped his head the other way and looked at the emptiness behind him. 

he steadied his feet on the ground and raise his clenched fists, "is someone there?"

a man appeared from the darkness, the moonlight shining down on his tall figure and tommy almost lost his breath at how intimidating the man looked. he had long pink hair that was tied back into a braid. he also wore fancier clothes that were untouched by nature's harm unlike tommy's. a white ruffled shirt and red coat hung down his back. with long grey pants and black boots that came up to his calf. tommy and him were about the same height, but his entire aura felt overpowering to tommy, it made him feel small and insignificant. 

the mans eyes widened when he came to realization who the young boy was, but kept his chilled composure as he looked at him. 

"who are you?" tommy asks clenching his fists more. 

"i could ask you the same question." he jokes and tommy keeps his straight face. he pauses, thinking over what to say, he didn't want his first real interaction being bad. "i'm technoblade. but you can call me techno."

tommy's hands unclench and he takes a step back from the man, the grooves of his nails now imprinted in his skin. 

"and you?" techno asks returning the question. 

tommy pauses and puts his arms down at his sides, "tommy."

"it's nice to meet you tommy." techno says, "why are you all the way out here in the woods? you lost?" he asks. 

"no i- it's complicated." 

"care to explain?"

"i just met you, how am i supposed to trust a stranger?"

"i mean, i could just kill you right now." techno jokes, not earning a laugh out of tommy as he takes another step back.

"fine." tommy scowls, "my friend and i, we've been banished from our nation. we're on the run now." tommy huffs. 

techno looks at him with sincere eyes as he talks, pushing before he speaks. "do you want any help?"

tommy looks back up from the ground and to the man standing in front of him. "i don't think i have much of a choice."

techno only laughs as tommy turns around and begins to walk to the cave, techno following behind him. 

the two walk in silence for what seems to be forever, until the cave is in sight and tommy picks up the pace. techno continues to walk at the same speed behind him as tommy pulls back the ivy to see wilbur in the cave. it looks as if he had gotten more supplies, the front of the cave was no longer as empty. 

"wilbur!" tommy says and he whips his head around at the boy. 

"you're back." wilbur says. 

"i found some help." tommy says. 

"what do you mean?" 

"i found him in the woods, and he says he wants to help." tommy says shakily, not knowing the reaction he would get out of wilbur. 

wilbur placing a hand on his temple and shaking his head from side to side, "we can't trust anyone tommy."

"it doesn't even seem like he's from bevurian! i don't see why not." tommy says back to him.

wilbur sighs and looks down to the ground. "we'll see, tommy. we'll give him a few days to prove himself."

"okay," tommy says back to him. he looks behind him towards the man who is standing there with his arms crossed and tommy gestures for him to come in. 

they step in to the cave and wilbur looks up at the two boys, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. the man looked familiar, but he didn't know where to place him. for a second, maybe he thought tommy brought a man from bevurian or l'manberg to their base now. but he didn't seem to be from around the area, he only sat there confused. 

techno sat there confused as well with the familiar feeling and look of the new man sitting in front of him. 

"wilbur this is techno, techno wilbur." tommy says to the two boys, and the words make both of their hearts drop to the bottoms of their stomach as they stay there in shock. the world now stopping, reality faltering and everything coming to a sudden halt. they only stayed there, looking each other in the eyes in shock, confusion, anger, disappointment, confusion, and a feeling they didn't want to admit they felt - comfort. 

"it's nice to meet you." techno chokes on his words and wilbur just sits there still in shock, the voice piercing through his ears and bringing him physical pain. he's only able to form a nod before turning to the side, tommy now leading him in to the cave and sitting him down on the floor.

wilbur sat there in silence and stillness forever until tommy eventually fell asleep on the stone floor. only leaving himself and techno sitting on opposite sides of the wall in silence. 

they both wanted to say something, both needed to say something. but neither of them could find the correct words. so they just sat there, the silence making the cave walls feel incredibly thick as wilbur's eyes began to sting with tears brimming at the edges of his eyes. 

"we need to talk at some point," techno says and the words make wilbur's heart drops; silence filling the air again. "will, please." techno begs. 

he looks up at techno who was expressing the most sincere look on his face, filled with sadness and regret. 

wilbur stood up from his spot on the floor and walked towards the cave enternce, pulling back the ivy and walking out. techno slowly sat up and followed behind him hesitantly. wilbur stopped in his tracks, looking up at the moon as techno stood behind him, looking at him worried. 

"wilbur?" 

wilbur stood there now with tears streaming down his face, refusing to turn around and face the brother he hasn't seen in more than 15 years. 

techno took a step towards him, hovering his hand above his shoulder before slowly pulling away, scared of the reaction he would have gotten. 

"how did you find me?"

"i didn't know tommy would lead me to you." techno admits, "i had no idea you'd be here."

both of them stand there in silence, not knowing what to say to the other. not wanting to make the other angry. 

"how do you know tommy?" techno asks. 

"he's been a friend of mine for a little while now. it's kind of complicated how we got here."

"well i'm gonna have to figure it out at some point."

wilbur pauses thinking of his brothers words, "i guess you're right." he pauses, "we made a nation together, and we lost the election. the new guy he, he kicked us out of it. banished us actually. so now, we're here." 

"you started a nation?" techno asks suprised. 

"yeah." he answers shortly. 

they both stand there in silence for a while. techno figured that from what he heard he didn't know about tommy. he found it surprising that he didn't, the chances were so incredibly small. that they met like this and were in this situation together. all of them now. it pained techno that he was the only one who knew the secrets, but he knew it was probably for the best if he kept it to himself. 

but all the brothers finally together.

**Author's Note:**

> hi!! i started this book on wattpad but wanted to put it here too! at the moment it’s discontinued but who knows for the future! it’s just a little too difficult keeping up with all the plot lines in one book.


End file.
